Every Saturday, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 33-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.
The Dogs
My thoughts are chased my dogs
trapped in Instamatic snapshots
their eyes are red in the night
I can see into their mouths
past the teeth
past the teeth
I’m at home in the strangest places
but the sea is just pounding water
trying to get revenge
trying to get revenge
The dogs are barking
running towards me
through a roll of twenty-four exposures
The dogs have questions for me
I don’t know what they are
On the train I heard the sea on the tracks
roaring in a straight line
away from me
away from me
Stop it with the gun
Stop it with the gun
was a philosophy of hers
more than a request
but right now she’d like the kid to quit it
he has a sound-equipped machine gun
pointed at her head
pointed at her head
The dogs have been measured out to me
Some of the snapshots have one big dog
some of the snapshots have two dogs
some of the snapshots have three dogs
I don’t know how many dogs there are
more than three
more the ones my flashcube illuminates
The dogs have questions for me
The dogs have questions for me
Dogs don’t mince words
“The Dogs” from Water Cuts My Hands (K, 1991) (download):
