Stanley

At the edge of Isabella's imagination
There is a salad bar

At the salad bar
You can make your own salad
And put whatever you want on it

I make a salad with bacon bits
And Hormel chili
And penne pasta
And the heels
From high-heeled shoes

I sit at a table by myself

Everybody else is standing at the windows
Looking out onto the world Isabella's created
A world that's slowly being overtaken
Piece by piece

The party is nearing an end
The Right Train is parked outside
And at some point
I'll board it
And ride right into the blue water
That's rushing towards us

But for now, I eat my salad

Nobody pays attention to the little dog
That used to belong to Mariella

They assume that I'm sad
Because she crossed over into reality
But the truth is
She crossed over a long time ago
And I've been alone
For far longer
Than anybody realizes

Time is a fragile and yet flexible thing
In the mind of a child

Yesterday seems like today
Today seems like last year
And this moment
Eating salad at the end of imagination
Seems like it's been going on
Forever

Some of us will achieve reality
Some of us will disappear
And some of us will go to a different place

A place that Isabella isn't even aware she's keeping at the moment

A place called memory

And one day
When she goes inside that place
And begins opening up the boxes
That will be placed there

The boxes untouched by the waters
That are raging over the Sahara
Where the camels play kickball
And Oreo Villa where the Man Who Stands on His Head
Has finally stood right-side up
To see the world in a different way
Before it vanishes

Isabella will open those boxes
And inside one of them
She'll find me

And she'll write a little story about me

'Stanley the Tap Dancing Dog'

And I'll be alive again
In another imagination
Perhaps many imaginations

But until then
I'll eat my salad
And watch my colleagues say their good-byes

It's been quite a party

From beginning to end