Face

                     i.m. Mark Strand

Mark came into the room and said, Tom, you have
the face of a dog. Alan, you have the face
of a horse. And me, I have the face of—

but Mark couldn’t decide what kind of face
he had, or else I couldn’t in the dream
remember or maybe it was that the dream

couldn’t remember. And in the second part
of the dream Mark came into the room smiling
and laughing, and after a while he left the room

and Alan said, It’s only natural he wants
to have a good time. And when Mark didn’t come
back for a while, I went looking for him,

and though I knew where he was, I couldn’t find him.
And in the third part of the dream, Mark came
back into the room and said, No, Alan, you

have the face of a dog, Tom, you have
the face of a horse, and me, I have—
but he never did say what kind of face he had.

And in the fourth part of the dream, Mark came
back into the room and said, No, no, it’s me!
I have the face of a horse! I have the face of a dog!

And in the fifth part of the dream—
but there was no fifth part of the dream—
only Alan, me, horse, dog, and Mark

coming and going, coming and going in the room.