The Ballad of Johnny Stripes Lyrics

From the divan

I keep an eye on

The sitting room

I luxuriate in the sun

I nibble leaves

While Jonathan reads

In the dining room

I leave my scent on Jonathan's jeans

But he could never know what it means

And when the nighttime comes

Refrigerator hums

I hear my own footfalls

The mice inside the wall

When I was young

I stood out among

My littermates

Curious and gentle and strange

Sandpaper tongue

As I walk among

The dinner plates

Drinking from the tap as it leaks

Talking back when Jonathan speaks

And when the nighttime comes

Refrigerator hums

I hear my own footfalls

The mice inside the wall

When I was born nobody thought I would live

But Jonathan took me in

He gave me milk and water from a syringe

And I would dream for hours in the warmth of his skin

I have no words

The movement of birds

It fascinates

I sit at the window and stare

The evening's here

And Jonathan's near

While dinner waits

We sit in the kitchen and share

We can feel the spring in the air

And when the nighttime comes

Refrigerator hums

I hear my own footfalls

The mice inside the wall