Chords for ANDREA GIBSON - A LETTER TO MY DOG

_ _ _ _ [B] _ _ [D] Dear Squash, _ aka Squashy, aka Squishy, aka Squish Squashy and you don't [B] stop, aka Miracle
Button, [Ab] aka Little Perfect Peanut, aka my beating heart with fur and legs.
_ [B] _ _ _ [E] _
I [D] know you think it's insane that [Bm] I still poop in the [Bbm] house.
[C] I choose to wear underwear
and [B] pants giving [E] no one the opportunity to [Ab] smell my true disposition.
_ [Eb] But on the days
I need to [G] feel better about myself, [Bm] I don't just pee on someone's [E] pee.
I don't worry.
[Gb] I am not fooled by my thumbs.
I know I am not the [Bb] tadpole's final project.
I know I
am not [Em] the last species evolution hopes to become.
I can't even swallow my own [D] pride
long enough to let myself drool [Gb] when something smells delicious.
_ [Bb] What must you think [B] of my
mirror face?
Or how much of [G] my day I spend practicing my butch voice, my baby-elf [D]-it's-a-carburetor-with-my-gool-pit voice? _
_ _ There is nothing in my toolkit [Gb]
besides a massive collection of [Eb] self-help books that have helped
me do nothing [Bb] but punch away the skeletons in my closet.
Don't you just love how that
femur accents the [Ebm] sophuset squash?
[Bm] I'm sorry I cry every time I [Gb] take you to the vet. _ _
_ [Bb] _ I'm
sorry I take [G] you there when you've only got a [Bb] bug bite.
[Em] Humans hold so tight to the [Gm] leash
of life, but you will roll [Bb] in anything dead and [E] bear flight for a few.
_ I wish I [Gb] had your
nose for eternity.
I wish I could see what you see.
[G] Where the squirrels sing your eyes.
Where the postman deserves to die even when he's not bringing bills.
What's with hating
the sound of the peace lily makes on the floor of the [Gb] living room?
I know I let you down
every day.
[B] I choose to not murder [Em] the vacuum.
[G] Is it bad that I don't teach you to [Gm] not be
afraid of men?
[Eb] Is it bad that I want [Em] you to keep your [D] bite and your snarl and your gleaming
[Gb] teeth?
Is it bad that when they call you a risk, I call you a feminist?
You never make
[G] fun _ of your friend Chloe's underbite, or your friend Will's limp, or your friend [D] Harvey's
past [Bb] troubles with the law.
You never criticize [E] me for being too [Gb] uptight to let my hair down,
even though you can let yours all [B] the way out.
All over my black hoodie, my black pants,
the couch, my car, the [Eb] chair, the online merch store that sells my [Em] books and t-shirts.
We
[D] _ can't continue to sell your products if they [E] continue to be covered [Gb] in so much of your
dog's hair. _ _
[Bm] I just assume anybody covered in you would increase in value.
Remember [E] when
I told that woman I loved her, then [G] whispered in your ear,
I'm [Eb] gonna give her one down.
If I _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ [Ebm] could, I [Bm] would put your beating heart in my mouth and [Eb] suck on it like a piece of
candy so I [E] could finally [Gm] understand how you got so sweet.
I [Em] don't know if a therapist
[D] likes you more than she likes me, and I'm still able to sleep [Gm] on her couch.
[Gb] You taught
me a good nap is the best therapy.
You taught me to sit when I [Bb] damn well want to sit.
I
don't care [G] that you never talk about [Eb] patriarchy or capitalism or the heteronormative [D] hegemonic
paradigm.
I know you're stuck in a world where [B] you get poo stuck [Bbm] in your butt hair
and you don't go [Ab] looking for someone to blame.
_ _ [G] Don't go looking for [B] someone.
I can't imagine
what you [Bb] think of sex.
I can't tell if you think it's a [G] slobbery, badly [Bb] bound, read-buddy
route, or a poorly aimed [E] fist fight.
You just [Ebm] perched your head into the gut, tilting [B] your
head back and forth, wondering why I still haven't taken my pants off.
I wish you squashy
[G] guys have issues.
We dig holes, bury our own [Bb] hearts, we chew on our own bones, we escape
the predator but still can't shake them off so some of us, we wear our own [Bm] bodies the
way your friend Berlin wore that [B] cone around her head, remember?
[Gm] So embarrassed that I
never had a better [G] teacher, I've been caging my own spirit than you, [D] never had a better
reason to stop playing [Gb] dead than the day I saw your [Gbm] face at the shelter, your little
nose pressed against the coal [Bb] blast, staring up at me like I was a gay Noah's Ark.
[Eb] My
heart, my _ [Gm] _
heart, [D] every time I give you a treat, you run around the house [Gb] looking for a place
to hide it, till you finally come to where I'm sitting and hide it [Bm] directly under me.
The [Gb] most important thing I have [Em] ever built in my [E] whole life is your [G] trust.
May you always
feel entitled to more than your [D] fair share of the bed.
May you always tear [E] the stuffing
out of [Gb] every toy I give you so I can constantly be reminded to keep spilling [Bm] my guts, to keep
saying I don't know how I will [Em] ever make peace with the shortness of your lifespan
but I promise to make sure [G] you know you are so loved every second [Em] you are here, you [G] know
my hands [Bm] will build the sturdiest ark they possibly can [A] to hold your holy howl and your
holy bark and your holy [Em] beg, squash a Rooney Gibson and a perfect [G] peanut.
My beating heart
with