there is this small red doghouse that is sometimes an aeroplane
& sometimes a bed
actually
nightly it’s a bed which makes sense
more sense than the actual fact that
inside this small red doghouse is
a pool table
stereo
TV
waffle-iron
grandfather clock
basketball hoop
stained-glass window
staircase
jacuzzi full of hair probably
with
a den
basement
laboratory
library with fluorescent lights
guest room for seven people & a bird
a servant’s entrance
but no servants only some round-headed kid
who is kind & thoughtful
even though life can be awkward & hard
this small red doghouse is carpeted throughout
there’s a stained-glass window
ceiling mural
cedar chest &
a potted philodendron that’s probably poisonous
because a lot of houseplants are which people don’t realise
or maybe they just let them into their homes regardless
there’s definitely a painting by Van Gogh
that gets destroyed in a fire
& a painting by Andrew Wyeth
to replace the painting by Van Gogh
that gets destroyed in a fire
& time has moved somehow jumped ahead
or to the side & the two paintings are together
next to each other one the wall
overlapping somehow
but anyway
whatever happened back then
I must not forget the pair of pinking shears
see
there on the table
they are amazing
even better than those electric socks over there
because what are electric socks anyway
I definitely know what pinking shears are
they are the king of all scissors
they can cut the edges of paper into zigzags
just like the points of a crown
& are disguised as normal scissors
but secretly hide the jaws of a beagle
confronting the violence of the cat next door
with similar violence
& suddenly I feel like this is actually just like childhood
which seems smaller on the outside
when you go back for a visit
& have to sit on these tiny chairs
with your chin on your knees
& eat tiny crisps in the shape of monsters
but actually if I let it
this childhood will just pile up & pile up
secretly on the inside
getting bigger & bigger
until my only option is to just sleep on top of it
high on the ridge
outside under the stars