so the thief opens the bag
inside is a dead dog

no sorry it was me I opened
the bag
	   inside     my boss’s dog

or okay
	   the thief opens it
but it’s my childhood in there
and now it’s his childhood too
and that’s how it spreads until
my childhood		is everyone’s childhood

only joking it’s me opening the bag
after all
	  the dog in there isn’t dead
but it’s not looking good

or actually I open the bag for you
and in there is the worst news
	you have ever received

geez you open it you open it
and in the bag is the thief and now
he is your responsibility	     he has a lot
				             of requirements 

so you see how this works

there is me
	  you
	  and the thief
these are the people who can open the bag
and in the bag is a dead dog
or anything else

it is in fact the thief who opens the bag
inside is you and
you take the news crisply
as ice		  slipping below the skin
		  of a swimming pool
		  a cold already part of you

no no never mind I open the bag
to find a dead dog I do not recognise
(offstage
	  someone cries out)

right the thief opens it but he knows
the news inside
is not for him so he waits for you
to finish being sick

say you open the bag and I hope you don’t but say
you do you will see the dog	dead
there will be a moment of understanding
a certain angle
of the jaw a certain
look

look
I also heard that the thief
opens the bag
but it is his bag
and his dog
the thievery
		is separate

so I open the bag again just to check
that it is indeed my childhood in there
and it is		  and because it is my childhood
it is you before the news you
are feeding a stick insect
whose legs have come off
with its shedded skin

forget it	  if you opened the bag
		  I’m not saying you will
		  but if you did
what would you hope was in there
if it wasn’t the news and the choices were
	a)   a dead dog (anyone’s)
	b)   a thief
	c)   my childhood
it’s okay I won’t be offended 
you can tell me the truth

if I open the bag it does not mean
that you don’t have to
	  you probably still do

of course it’s the thief he’s a thief
the thief having stolen it
opens the bag
in there is the stick insect
		 it ushers him
		 into a slow future
		 like a ski instructor
		 pointing at a fresh
				   avalanche

except it is always you
it is always		the exact same thing
you always		open the bag
there is always	a dead dog
you say you didn’t steal it	  so what happened
				back there

fine fine you got me
there is no bag

there is no bag
but there is a thief and the dog
is a metaphor for how
I am rolling out the huge
wet sky of grief for you

it’s finally morning
I can see your face across the table
between us is the bag
so open it