Bill Callahan
Our Anniversary
When I was just a little boy
I asked my mother
What would I be?
Would I be happy?

It's our anniversary
I leave it ajar
And go outside
To look at the driveway stars

The crickets are chirping
And they stop at my step
I stop my step
And they start up again

It's our anniversary
And the bullfrogs
And everything that can sing
Is singing its mating song

The soil is steaming
The grass is swooning
Guns or fireworks are popping down in the town
A woman is running and a man jumps up and down

This is our anniversary
And you've hidden my keys
This is one anniversary
You're spending with me
I slide in the front seat, the driver's side
To hotwire and hightail crosses my mind
But still in the driveway, fixed like the stars
I flip on the headlights and go back outside

The climate's controlled
While the battery dies
Clipping the wings
Of your morning flight

The night will end
In some form of excess
Pants around ankles
Too weak to fully undress

Its our anniversary
A celebration of, here's to next year
Maybe you'll join me in my car
We'll drive together, but not too far

We are far from flowers cut and dried
So let us thrive let us thrive
Let us thrive let us thrive
Just like the weeds we curse sometimes