Benjy (9/4)

Benjy's hanging on the fence again
That's ok, it's his fence
The lawyer made that perfectly clear

I was a world away, in New York
But we needed someone in the house
To watch Benjy and to take care of things
I needed a place to stay
It seemed like a great suggestion
At the time

I wanted to finish my novel
About the secret inner life of cats
I was making progress in the beginning
But lately I've really gotten bogged down in research
And it's hard to stay focused
When any time you might come home to find
That someone has taken a shit in the middle of the kitchen floor
Again

It's important to remember
That he's my brother
It's important to remember
That he can't always control himself
It's important to remember
That being disabled doesn't mean you can't also be a jerk

At the beginning, I tried to figure out the things that would set him off
Avoid the upsetting stimulus, avoid the crap on the floor
But after a while I realized that those things
Weren't things I had done, or things he had seen
They were happening in another world

Benjy's hanging on the fence again
He's licking the rail, because it tastes so good
Just like that apple he had after lunch
I ask him if he wants another apple
But he's off in another world

I'm sitting on the porch
Drinking a fresh squeezed lemonade
With a soothing Vodka kick
I pick up my book, and read
To return to another world