Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008 - 8:54 p.m.
Cadillac Salad
**************
I went out for brunch
with an old pal
from highschool
who was in the area
to visit his folks
we met at the only vegetarian restaurant
for a fifty mile radius :
me, him and his steady girlfriend
I felt he was showing me
off to her like an old house
where he used to live
that is now sitting on valuable real estate
a corner lot with a vast treed lot
where nobody could see
in from the street
far from the stink
and chaos of the city
beyond the sidewalk
that I represented something
that he wanted to tell her about himself
but somehow he could not articulate
that doing art,
making music,
involved in projects,
& whenever possible-
walking in nature'
& that he longingly
considered my sketchy
but bright full existance
somehow more valuable
than the life he drove away from
at the start of the weekend
implying that she might think
this artsie questing cyber gypsy
approach to existance
in a post bank crash world
was actually desirable
possible and valuable
and that she might enjoy embracing
a less complicated way of life-
maybe even start having a life
rather than slug it out through
a pontless path of doing
what everybody else was doing
that wasn't working anymore
that a world depression
was just another opportunity
to start again
and this time
have some fun
and get what it is
we really want and need
whatever that may be
21st Century living
has to be simplier
than 20th century life
or it won't be sustainable
and then there won't be anything Change while there is a choice to change
before the coming downswing
takes it all away
where choice is not a factor
Girlfriend person wasn't buying it
and pretended not to hear
or understand his hints or arguments
instead laid out in civil tone
what she considered proper living to be
and none of it was any of that colourful
but uncertain artsie fartsie gypsie world
that was student life
not big person life
life as adults was basically one thing only-
work an unspecified job
on a clear explainable carreer path
and save living a life for the weekends-
designated holidays and vacations
preferably with her friends & family
on her cleartly defined terms
at destinations of her choosing
at a time of her convenience
anything else is just
failure to become real..
and then she spelled it out
R
E
A
L
as if she was talking to
retarded children
who missed their mouths with a fork
almost everytime
I guess i was watching
a slow motion
but very polite argument
tucked into a neutral social setting
as the brunette dominator corrected
her uppity buzz cut co pilot.
I could sort of see him slowly strangle
and her gently stepping on his air tube
Nobody was having any fun
darn meaningful relationships-
they need so much attention
everything
and everybody
else suffers
I felt a bit sorry for them
here they were out trying to have fun
and it was like a court appeartance
it l seemed to me that
one of them had to die inside
for ther relationship to live
or second choice was to break up
and go their seperate ways
and then both die
in seperate places
When the fortune cookies
arrived at the end of the meal
on a little plate with the bill
nobody dared read them aloud-
they took turns smirking
at the tiny scraps of printed paper
almost hoping that the other one
would imagine the other one
had a better fortune forcast
at least long term
I was glad to wave goodbye
and watch their little car
drive up to an ATM for the 2 hr ride
back to the evil city where they live
and I was glad to get home
alone with my art
with Taser sleeping in a box
proud & happy
because when he wakes up
we will have it all
like we usually do
like we always will
