Jeffrey O'Malley: "soul out of water"

"soul out of water"

the neighbor's dogs are barking-

& when i believed miracles true, 

that time before your heart sighed

its last ecstasy, that time

the neighbor's dogs were barking

& all through the night,

that time the parrot rang

like a telephone, i heard

the neighbor's dogs stop barking-

she screams because of you but

that time you couldn't hear it

so i turned my ear away toward you,

a puddle of your soul drips from my parsed lips.