Monday, May. 28, 2007 - 9:19 p.m.
Jinky on Line Three
********************
Dusk is either lonely
or explosive busy
in a small town
it was explosive here today
sorting through potential bands
with Music-man
for our concert next month
We were deciding
if a broken up band from last year
is actually two new bands this year
or one leftover band
minus their star singer
and a totally new lineup altogether
we should have just
called their girlfriends
who actually know these things
rather than left a message
on strange cellphones
....then
Plant man drops over
unannounced
with a trunk full of raspberry bushes
he wanted to pick up the cardoon & basil
I had started for him
May is serious gardening here
we don;t talk shit unless
we actually got some to spread around
as Music-man worked his way through
his phonebook
Plantman and me dreamed up
making a million dollars ( each )
selling cardoons seedlings
to landscapers
at a dollar each
the demand for them
in the yuppy yards
is considerable around here
we can get rich _next year
if plant man grows out 80 cardoons
and we save the seed
cellphones ringing all over
Music man takes a call
from a guitar player on a break
from his real job to discuss
set lists for our upcoming show
Plantman and me use this opp
to inspect the rottortiller job
out back here and where the raspberries
would do best
he knows these things
he grew up in a family
that ran a commercial greenhouse
then my phone rings
its a a puzzling familiar voice
asking me
if I have lost a little red cat
"yes I probably did"-I say
"hes over here in the yard
happy as can be he is sooooo cute..."
I look at the clock
" thank you & where are you?
I can come right now and pick him up "
the voice sort of gasped
and asked if I was me
and of course I said yes I am
..... oh oh..
It was a long lost Crushette
calling a number
on a cat collar at random
I haven;t seen her
in more than two years
what is she doing in town ?
she tells me
she has moved back for the summer
family selling their house
she is part of the decoration committee
to boost value
so her cut is bigger
and then she can figure out
what to do with her life
...blah blahblah
everybody thinks their house
is worth a million bucks
but its only worth what
somebody else will pay
millionares don't usually
move to obscure small towns
to live in freshly painted bungalos
....But if they do
they can buy our cardoons
and fit right into my master plan
I learn she has gone through
" a lot of changes"
uh huh
.. we can talk when you get here..."
a sence of danger was in the air
like the smell of burning gunpowder
in a confined space
I beg leave of my guests
to bike over and reclaim Jinky
the red haired date bait bait
but as i start up the street
along comes, riding her own bike
the star singer from our best band
who just wanted to say hi to her homies
after spending three glorious weeks
on Vancouver Island with her BF
... she was good news on two wheels
" come along with me
and help me pick up my runaway cat" I sing
" ya, we can talk on the way'" she replies
she knows
what an adventure animal he is
and i can confide in her
that he is at the house
of a crushette that i am sort of
not really wanting to be with
and i lay out the plan
' just grab the cat
thank her
and go
and I mean go
no tea
no CD swapping
no driveway chit chat
this is a mission in Iraq
live annumition
away we go
laughing at our plans
to outfox a fox
and escape home
safe and sound
with the Scarlet Avenger
when we arrived her BF
was laying prostrate
on the driveway
peering under his car
trying to flush out Jinky
using dog obey tactics
"come on out boy, come on, come on"
.... it wasn;t working
I whistled and Jinky danced out
merrily ringing his bell
wiggling between our bikes to say hello
I introduced myself to the BF
who was rather cold and detached
as unwarm as humans come
without actually being offensive
fine I just want my cat and get the heck out
Crushette sashays down the driveway
and almost hugs me but glances at her guy
then at my bike companion the girl singer
and decides to just say a drawn out
" hellllooooooooo dahling "
like she was starring
in a Black & white movie
from the 1940s..
maybe she was
a lot can happen in two years
I learned her own old white dog
had finally died
and was buried in the backyard
she was trying to spruce up
so they could sell the house
- dead dog included
She told me Jinky had been
up a tree in the neibours yard
creeping up on a robins nest
and she soaked him with the hose
rather than run off angry
Jinky climbed down
squeezed under the fence
walked over
and rubbed his wet face on her ankles
-that was a new one
" Your cat has no sence of shame"
she might well mean
a feline sence of
self loathing
- nope and i am very proud he doesn't
all that has no place
amongst the truly wonderfull
she called the number on his collar
and was surprised to have me answer
I agreed it was an random act of heaven
but we have to go
& thanked her
and we rode off'
singer girl on her bike went east
and Jinky & me rode west
into the sunset
towards the lake
so we could grab
a happy half hour
of waterside bliss
as the sun sunk over the horizon
and the tangerine waves
lapped softly
against the massive stone boulders
where we could sniff the fresh air
of wonderfullness
and delight in out world
until the street lights came on
