Archive for April, 2008
- Tilt-a-Whirl
Love is a carnival ride: the Tilt-a-Whirl. You walk, feet ringing on the metal up-and-down platform, clutching hands and searching for an empty car. The red- and blue-enameled steel clamshell opens wide for your pleasure. You climb in together, slide over the naugahyde seat and pull down the chrome restraining bar. All aboard, and the […]
29 April 2008- A Rainy Morning in Hell
Rain falls from the sky in great acidic drops; they sizzle and steam when they strike the ground. Asphalt bubbles, and the pavement is still hot under your feet.
Small children play mumbletypeg with a switchblade they got from their mother’s intimate apparel drawer. Inside, besides the knife, they found Iron Maidenform bras, leather thongs with […]
28 April 2008- Flesh
The surgeon’s hands resemble those of Mary’s in Michelangelo’s Pietà — they are slender and have long, tapered fingers. I expect a weak handshake and am surprised when it is firm, dry and brusk: the mark of a professional. His face is assured and kind, but somewhat disappointing. In photographs I have seen, he sported a mustache […]
24 April 2008- Mid-Spring
American Dream: Mid-Spring
22 April 2008
Yes, I am lazy. I can’t help it. Spring has bees droning and grass greening and shrubs bursting color. Who can stay indoors, chained to a desk, making words? It takes Herculean effort to write even these few lines. Now Hercules has left the building.- Equine Hair
The horse and I have both let our manes grow a little wild this spring. For her, a wild mane is no issue as long as she can see the grass to graze; she will not be ostracized by the other horses because of her uncultivated hair. Not so for a late middle-aged adult human. […]
20 April 2008- Spinach
The glass and chrome Indian restaurant, named for a musical instrument, is lit by the glare from automobiles outside. Overhead a Bollywood soundtrack drones, “Hare Krishna, hare Rama, Rama Krishna, Rama Rama…” or something to that effect. The air is spiced only very slightly with curry. Diners are segregated, Anglos planted in the far corner […]
16 April 2008- Re-Envision
Reggie, listen to me. Don’t you think it’s time we tackled the myth of the Thumpers?
What, dear boy? And leave poor Tess dangling up there all by herself?
She isn’t dangling. She’s levitating.
Same thing, if you ask me. But no. The Thumpers will have to wait at least one more day. Will you pass me that […]
13 April 2008- Spring Cleaning
The time has come to sweep out all old symbols, similes and metaphors, collect them in a verbal dust pan and consign them to a vocabulary landfill. Then words will not cling like cobwebs to others’ imaginations or return to haunt me as the unruly ghosts of dust bunnies plague untidy rooms.
Perhaps the job is […]
9 April 2008- Iguanas
The world is a glazed clay pot containing two iguanas.
Everything occurring on Earth hinges on the interaction of these two: the male and female iguanas. Their eyes are wide open, inquisitive, aware; their claws are extended and their tails are curled. He is the larger and more broken of the two. She is the more […]
2 April 2008
