he had this thing this . .  .  interruption  that tapped his cheek as his niece did while she sat in his lap

hed fall into deep conversation with his brothers sisters their spouses and friends and feeling ignored she turned in his lap faced him and then shed reach up and ever-so-gently tap tap tap his cheek

Ohmygoodness  Sorry sweetheart  I havent forgotten you   You have been so very patient

he excused himself from the conversation

his family and friends seemed always to be put out when he acknowledged her    used offended eyes

Aw comon Who are the adults here Check where were atOkay Ill checked where were at and well pick it up later

later when he did because they never did they said it was water under the bridge they werent interested in discussing it furthur

No he pointed to his head tapped his temple Its right here its not sluffed off down a river  Ill remind you if you prefer

We dont
       one always said for the rest of them

Okay

it was only one of the reasons why he preferred talking to children than adults

adults forgot how to play

apparently they were entitled

he never grasped their sense of entitlement over childrenHell  their children  but he knew there had always existed perpetuated by his parents their parents that selfish premise that children should be seen not heard that somehow smaller human beings had nothing worthwhile or of interest to say and share  perhaps forgetting that they were just larger scaled beings and their bigness alone wasnt sufficient to overwhelm a childs imagination thoughts interpretations or frankly their worthiness

in his youth he was consistently overrode quieted by adults

except 

      in the company of older wiser adults who – for the most part – werent his relatives

he learned and followed their lead he got down as they did so when they spoke with him they were at his height and equality

why wouldnt what a child said be interesting  given half a chance these pint-size people had very interesting perceptions even if they lacked the words to properly express them but an engaged adult could offer words suggest possibilities help them wrangle what they wanted to share

their acuity astounded and perplexed him

                               Tabula rasaOh horseshit Theyre scribbled all over

he sought their company because he preferred their utter originality lack of indoctrination and pedagogy

hed met two savants in his life and neither was taller than his bellybutton

this thing this interruption tapping at his cheek always sought his attention and pulled him away from whatever it was that he was doing 

           and always to his pleasure discomfort and amusement

he was reading two books going back and forth between them when he tired of he entertained the other and since their genera was similar his back and forth was subtle

not that it always was

he often read books side by side that were disparate and the leap from one to the other was jarring  but invigorating

the book he wasnt reading lay open a bookmarker rested between its pages in case a breeze lapped it and turned it from where he stopped

but what captured his attention  interrupted him  out of the corner of his eye he saw an o was filled in  a dot though immaterial   and looking closer he recognised that inside the o something wiggled moved

he bookmarked the book he was reading to take this interruption

the smallest spider he ever laid eyes on crept out of the o

he tapped his fingernail on the page behind it and it crouched  tapping a second time it scurried then stopped reared around and charged

it pulled up short of his tapping  crouched again  then deftly spun and beat a hasty retreat across the lettered page

One-onethousand two-onethousand three-onethousand four  touch football  hed be coming across the line of scrimmage

the spider continued to flee

it was the teeniest tiniest spider he ever laid eyes on

fit inside an o

perhaps his teeniest tiniest interruption ever

making the edge of the page it seemed to slide down the pages hed read and making the white painted porch railing exposed it sought refuge under a broken edge the shell of a paint blister

he tried to image that optick(sometimes his interruptions ran roughshod over each other)

a hummingbird rushed up into his face

he could feel the fan of its wings on his cheek

it reminded him of the sonorous hum the early afternoon tinged by bees working the rosemary blossoms  he wondered where their wild hive was hidden

Ah he sighed  My glorious interruptions
                                   imagined and made

    

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