Stuck Inside of Happy with a Kerry Blue Again

A song, written and performed by Mark Kunkel.

She always said she was allergic
that mammals made her sneeze…
I said, “Maybe just a gerbil?”
and she said, “If you ask ‘please.’”
But the gerbils bred like bunnies
and they overran the place
and my thoughts slid down the carpet
just like the tears slid down my face.

chorus:
Oh, mama, it sure would bring a grin
to be stuck inside of happy with a Kerry Blue again

So we tried a dozen goldfish
but they were not the swallowing kind
I’d say, “Wanna go for a little walk?”
but they’d not pay me no mind.
So they wound up with flushed faces
and the rest went that way too
and me, I’m still longing for
something special in the zoo…
Oh, mama, I would flip my tail fin…

Next we got some feathered serpents
from the land of jungle sun
they imitated our kids fightin’
and they’d squawk when folk’s come
But in the end they just weren’t talkin’
when we’d ask, “How was your day?”
and when the neon came and went
there was nothing left to say…
Oh, mama, sure would fire a light within….

And then it was a kitten
Nathan named her Heidi Otch
we asked how come he did it, he’d say,
“Because it rhymes with crotch.”
But she lived her days out spittin’
and got killed by some raccoon
it may have been just a little late
or really none too soon.
Oh, mama, I’d drink rusty bathtub gin…

So there was bedroom negotiations
and pleading pillow talk
and promises to be housebroken
and never have to walk
And the edge of the wedge got started
and it pried permission free
and it still feels like some miracle
or something that was supposed to be
Oh, mama, notify my next of kin…

Well he was a puppy up in Philly
and he had a famous dad
but all that mattered was just who he was
and not some pedigree he had
So they put a blue collar on him
and they pointed him toward the plane
and by the time he reached Hotlanta
he had a new last name…
Oh, mama, feels like leaving East Berlin…

I cried when I first saw him
and who knows, maybe he did too
but that really isn’t all that strange
it’s what lost brothers tend to do
And I named him after Dylan
some Thomas, mostly Bob
and he turned out to be a brother indeed
and not just some old dog
Oh, mama, think I’ve found my conjoined twin…

So we go for walks at sun-up
and some at nighttime too
and it’s hard to know who’s on the leash
or just who is walking who
And there’s a prayer in his silver
and a blessing in his blue
and there’s something in his just being here
way past too good to be true!
Oh, mama, I’m Tom Sawyer, he’s Huck Finn….

So that’s the story of Dylan
or at least, the part I’ve learned
and it’s hard to know just how it ends
or what’s coming with the turn
But there’s one thing that is certain
and that’s that love’s the one true thing
and I thank him for his company
and for this song that I can sing.
Oh, mama, here’s one I think I can win…
I’M STUCK INSIDE OF HAPPY WITH A KERRY BLUE AGAIN!

Mark's Dylan

Mark Kunkel's Dylan

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