Saturday, August 4, 2018

A HOLE INSIDE A RIOT

I was disappointed when he walked into the room. His lips flapping
like bed sheets on the clothes line in the wind. I took a vow
that I'd leave the room by scotch. A Russian poet described him
as the wind in a pair of trousers.

I woke up the next morning. He was asleep in the Easy Chair. The widow
came in and swatted the flies from his wavy orange hair. You had to admire
her devotion. Or was she just waiting for an opportunity
to run off with the table and the chairs.

Sitting on the porch. With a glass of Canadian rye. The house next door
was on fire. My aunt and uncle were due to arrive at eight. Then he wandered
across the front lawn onto my stage. And started passing out the blame. He
wanted to speak to the man of the house. I told him he was inside on the mantle
in a jar. His mouth burst into flames. He wanted names.

I gathered up the kids, the wife and the cat. Rushed everyone into the Infiniti. I let the cat drive.
We split down the road. Thinking about the bible. And how all this must seem old. I looked back
and there he was waving his arms like an inflatable flailing tube man. I put my feet up
on the back seat and flipped back into the past. Anywhere was better than here.

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