Warm tone, cold nose

Horn Dog

The album of duets with Willie Nelson

isn’t my favorite, though

there are some interesting moments

in your interpretation of

I Wanna Be Your Dog  

Willie’s idea

I heard you mention to Terry Gross

done live in one take

late one night in Bob Dylan’s Malibu studio

eyes crossed by turns

on your axe, then the vaporizer

“Miles Davis”

you said when asked

to recall your earliest influence.

News to me

when it wasn’t that long ago

I threw a ball and you brought it back

to Louis Armstrong or

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass

smiling around

your fuzzy prize, tail up.

I didn’t think you had the lip, frankly 
with paws like that

I always pictured you draped, panting
over an upright bass.