Song of the Beasts

If I were a lobster

On the Nantucket shore

With my shell growing thinner

On the cold ocean floor

And if I were a monarch

On my route flying south

With the milkweed beloved

A dead seed in my mouth

And if I were a coyote

Down on Michigan Ave

And the skyline arising

Was all that I had

Chorus: I’d say… (vocalizing, calling)....

And if I were a blue whale

Of the rolling dark see

And the sonar explosions

Blowing up in my ears

And if I were flying fox

On the outback so free

With the temperature rising

So my heart stopped its beat

And if I were a scallop

Sitting lonely in brine

On the pacific coastline

In the acidic tide

Chorus

And if I were a panda bear

In the forest so green

With the bamboo receding

Before my little cubs and me

And if I were a bumble bee

On the meadow so wide

With the neoinsecticoids

Getting into my eyes

And if I were an axolotl

Ina Mexican canal

Disappearing with the sunset

In a wondering spell

Chorus

And if I were an elephant

On the African plain

With a poacher approaching

Trying to desecrate my name

And if I were a mighty pine

On the Oregon hills

With the chainsaw blades rumbling

Breaking up the calm still

And if I were a hummingbird

With my beak in a rose

With the nectar turned poisonous

And my wings starting to close

Chorus

And if I were a dodo bird

Landing onto a stream

With the water a-sparkling

On the bright budding leaves

And if I were a dodo bird

In the dark windy night

Between living and dying

And waiting to take flight

And if I were a dodo bird

Flying inside the dream

Of a broken-down sailor

Trying to set me free