several parades you asked for

we looked at 
leashes in the pet store.
some leashes
the length of our bodies. some leashes 
for snakes 
& several leashes for humans. some for tying
to tree branches
& teaching them to amble. 
a willow tree has a waltz-like step.
i use my phone speaker
to play radio loud for us.
we dance, stepping in & out
of leashes. 
you want to walk your rose bush 
up & down the street 
to make your neighbor jealous.
we put collars on our wrists.
one is big enough
to choke a planet. the midday moon
is water bright. we buy
leashes of all sizes. we buy 
several collars. you tell me 
you have been wanting
to make a parade. there are wovles
all over town & now
we can catch one. we freeze tag run
& catch one. a great huge wolf
with snarling joints.
it walks between us. at home,
we aren't sure what to do with it.
the wolf stares & stare.
you say you had just wanted
to walk a rose bush &
look what i made us do.
the wolf does not sleep
so we take turns staying up
to watch the animal. it doesn't blink.
we put leashes on each other.
finally the wolf becomes 
a dead tree. a fallen log
in the middle of the hallway.
we step over it to go back to bed.
i leash the ceiling fan 
& you leash the pillow. i ask
if we can walk tomorrow
across the sidewalk 
with all our pets. you say
you don't know if it's safe anymore.
once you're asleep
i put a collar around
each ankle & each wrist.
i wait for you to wake up
& make a thicket of me. i want
to be pulled across a terrain.
landscape me. the mountain
swallows a knot of cloud.
you roll over & over.
a collar glimmers 
underneath your skin.