when i first scored my first taste of CHILD ABUSE not only my arms and
those of my friends, but nearly everything i could see (from my chair)
stood on end. the world suddenly seemed to me like one of those
magnetic faces where you drag metal shavings over a jolly face through
plastic to create illusions of facial hair. cars, storefronts and
even the road itself began to shiver mechanicly where they had once
stood solid and still. it was then that i saw it and noticed it
because everything else around it was moving and it wasnt. i dont
think anyone else could see it. they were busy getting to work and
stuff. but i just stood there watching the world around it cascade.
that was the way to see it, by not looking at it. i knew i would have
to get right home and tell you about it. when i got home i sat myself
down quickly in front of my communicator, drew up your address and
started typing:
dear morst,
im writing you to confirm our appointment of later today, to make it
solid. hourly ill be checking in here. my screen is saying that your
not at your desk but its hard to say. are you banging your
girlfriend? apparently CHILD ABUSE has landed here or very near here.
i know you find this sort of thing interesting and that even
sometimes this has brought trouble for you. but i figured you would
at least like to know. we could just go and get a drink or something.
what is your schedule like? i have a pretty open week except i need
to be at the foot of the mine at some point this afternoon to pick up
some stray remainders as well as those sweet slacks that literally
dominated conversation all last week. part of me feels that when i
slip into those stripes a lot of things will change for me and ill be
able to greet people without all the usaul examination, aka the once
over. but again, i could be whitling away a jawbone still functional
and wrappped in flesh. ive been known to over do it or to rush it at
times so we will just have to see. also, have have you heard about my
plans to stack and, in other non-vertical ways, organize water? seems
impossible but thats what they said about the back wall of my house
and we all know how that panned out. it was a literal and figuritive
sweepstakes. who could forget the wave of money that followed that
idea down the the pike? only a fool. a fool wIth money. speaking of
the wall, ive noticed that occaisionally, on a sunny afternoon,
various creatures from the yard will make their way to the window,
along the base of it, and seemingly 'sun' themselves there till the
reflections across them have spilled away with the sunlight. its
something to see when a squirl or sparrow will be half asleep with an
interview of a television actress spilling over its back as it begins
to gather itself for the walk back into the forest. sometimes i get
the feeling that im back in school in some classroom that smells like
chalk and vomit watching some filmstrip about how to prepare for the
next year with its drivers ed classes, intermural sports, assemblys
and the countless hallways we would all have to negotiate alone, or at
least psychicly alone. i went to one of the biggest high schools in
the area. i wouldnt call the experience traumatic but i defineltly
would not go back given a choice to travel. i hope this finds you
well. yours in magnanimity,
Old Man