7.23.2009

moses

moses belman lived in the apartment beneath my brother in Rapid City. moses was an old man with diabetes and a predilection for alcohol. when he was sober he was kind and an affable gardener. when he was drunk, the others took advantage. moses would show up at the door, having taken a beating, asking for help. so we'd call the cops and oddly enough, his name was already on file. moses was well known on that level.
i stood in for moses when i could as did my brother. but neither he nor i could stop moses from pointing a toy pistol at the RC cops. they shot moses on july 17 in the alley behind the house. caught him in the leg first but the rookie planted a shock round in his chest. moses died.
the landlord asked us to go into his basement apartment because he thought we were friends of his and he was right. but moses didn't leave a trace. just pots and pans and magazines and other shit he'd pulled from dumpsters over time.
moses was a recycler. the first time he asked me to haul him and his aluminum to scrap dealers, i did. those old beer cans stank to high hell but when moses got paid, he gave me ten bucks. i expected nothing and tried to refuse so he hid it under my cigarettes. i found it later.

RIP Moses Belman, you were alright by me.

7.17.2009

slow motion hero

Stopping for beer and cigarettes at the Quick Stop on 79th Ave in N Phoenix, already a little jagged, we see 5 of the City's finest. Just hanging out, drinking free sodas. I freak. My friend doesn't.
I ask, whispering, "should we just get out of here?"
He says no.
What then? I ask.
He says "can't make a sound, can't make a sound".
We didn't. They didn't even notice. We got beer and cigarettes.
Back outside, my buddy explained that's slow motion, they don't Tase you unless your too quick.
I really don't know what that means but it worked.

mogollon ridge

I drove up to the Mogollon Ridge today. 111 degrees in the valley, 78 at 7K altitude just south of Flagstaff. I drove off the BC freeway and took a dirt road into the woods and parked. I kicked around a bit and then I saw two pine cones. That got my attention. They reminded me why I was there. For a friend. My friend.
So I took them. I have them. I'm going to keep them.

7.15.2009

7.14.2009

caution sweepers ahead

coming home on the 60 tonight I see the freeway alert signs that hang under the bridges and while it usually tells me to carpool due to ozone danger, tonight it said "caution sweepers ahead". i kept a watchful eye out for sweepers but didn't see any or even know what i was looking for. apparently they were too far ahead.

7.13.2009

bigger than

i can't stop thinking about how, exactly, to write it.
you have green eyes, i have blue. you have a smile that tears up pavement, breaks windows, hearts and hard coffee .
i don't have anything for you in return.
except
if I could make my heart bigger , if I could make it even bigger than that again
it wouldn't even come close to how big it can be.

7.12.2009

have you ever had

a friend you didn't know at first?
that sort of friend that got a hold of you?
and you couldn't figure out why?
but then you went over the edge
lost contact
fell hard
couldn't explain it
fell in love?

7.10.2009

biblical

i should probably get religiously biblical. grow my hair long. cultivate a beard. become a carpenter. but I wonder, a little less than a suicide or just a fond farewell to a friend

it's a dull life

the pigs are in the tunnel
the sharks are ready to feed
HST is dead
Dep blew him up
king of the world!

shout out to my peeps and my girl

7.09.2009

look me in the eye and tell me that i'm satisfied

bought a shovel and a lawnmower
hired a crew
started tending yards
cleaning pools
poisoning ants and crickets
but as busy as I am i still
miss her every second of every day

mcdonalds


please be seated, this might take awhile

so i go to mcdonalds, pull up to the talking order box and order a quarter lb'er with cheese, plain - just bread, cheese and burger (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) ... and could i get some pickles 'on the side'?

the order taker sounded cute but apparently i blew her mind and exceeded the collective capacity of the McD's POS and upper management. "we just microwave it, sir, for the 35 seconds it takes you to drive from there (talking menu box) to here (one of two windows where the goods are dispensed)", but "i'm not authorized to give you pickles in a separate container".

what? not authorized?

i wondered. is there a sliced pickle shortage? is ths a result of the bad economy? the last swipe of a doomed Republican party? pickle nazis? bikers? meth-heads? for Chrissakes, I just wanted my pickles on the side. in a separate container. to use according to my own plan.

i was then asked to approach the 'second window'. i'm frightened by that (and wondering why I wasn't first window material), but do as told.

when i get there i'm given a burger in one sack with knapkins and another sack with six little lidded plastic containers full of pickles and 15 ketchups. a cute little gal swipes my card but before she hands me my receipt, she says 'wait just a sec'. having just learned a lesson in fast food obedience, i held tight. i figured they were getting a good digi-cam photo for the cops. i keep a loaded gun in the truck so I was ready for a shootout if necessary and i always wanted to be that guy on the news, running from the cops, filmed from above, but i didn't have to put the gun in play ...

she gave me my receipt and on it she had written her name and number ... "Call me, I'm Maria - 480-679 -****" you're sweet".

and i thought, yes, maybe i am and maybe i will

incredible guitar solo

you're not gonna get me through this, are you?

maybe i'll just bang out an incredible guitar solo

and skid on a patch of sunshine

7.08.2009

i will dare

i was asked to write a story about a strange day. i usually don't take requests but this one was compelling. there won't be a punchline and i'm not going to tell you what happened other than to say it was an upside down kind of day, the kind of day that is more interesting than the others.

a day you want to put behind you or relive over and over again.

7.06.2009

roscoe waller

Roscoe Waller couldn't run as fast as his brother Chuck. In fact, Roscoe ran like a girl. His legs and feet flying out to either side and that weird little herky-jerky-chicken-wing-pump-flap with his arms. Because of this flawed locomotion, we always caught Roscoe when we chased him home from school each late afternoon. We never caught Chuck. He was too fast and always got away. Roscoe's daily beatings probably toughened him up though, because we never heard him say uncle and we never saw him cry.

Playing little league baseball, Roscoe awed us with his ability get a step beyond that strange, uncoordinated gallop by throwing a ball even worse than most girls. He could sort of shot put the ball out about fourteen feet before taking a digger for the effort. Hence, additional (after-practice) beatings ensued. At the end of a practice or scrimmage, Roscoe would make a run for it, but had a crappy old Huffy banana bike with a low-rise sissy bar and a tired chain. We usually caught him before he could get past the airport road and definitely in the parking lot of the telephone company if he slipped the first noose, which he rarely did.

Looking back, for us it was the best of times and for Roscoe, it must have been the worst. I imagine him sitting alone in his room drawing up makeshift maps with city streets and territories marked 'there be dragons here' or 'lions and tigers and bears'. But through it all, Roscoe seemed to take it in stride. Apparently accepting it was his lot in life.

I knew Roscoe better than most. We went to the same church, were Sunday Acolytes and were confirmed on the same Sunday. That day, Roscoe answered the majority of the questions posed by the Minister in front of the assembled congregation and after the service, he gave each of us a miniature Abridged King James Bible in which he wrote, "Your Friend, Roscoe". Sucked the wind out of me.

Cheers to you, Roscoe.

7.03.2009

Aim for the body rare, you'll see it on TV
The worst thing in 1954 was the Bikini
See the girl on the TV dressed in a Bikini
She doesn't think so but she's dressed for the H-Bomb
(For the H-Bomb)

I found that essence rare, it's what I looked for
I knew I'd get what I asked for

Aim for the country fair you read it in the papers
The worst happens any week a scandal on the front page
See the happy pair smiling close like they are monkeys
They wouldn't think so but they're holding themselves down
(Hold themselves down)

I found that essence rare, it's what I looked for
I knew I'd get what I asked for

I found that essence rare, it's what I looked for
I knew I'd get what I asked for

Aim for politicians fair who'll treat your vote hope well
The last thing they'll ever do act in your interest
Look at the world through your polaroid glasses
Things'll look a whole lot better for the working classes
(Working classes)

I found that essence rare, it's what I looked for
I knew I'd get what I asked for

I found that essence rare, it's what I looked for
I knew I'd get what I asked for

lost/lonely