coming inside her apartment only hinted at through her daintily curtained
windows off the street he saw that she
had a thing for spider plants
but deeper inside her place to
say she had a thing wouldnt suffice
a passion
verging on obsession
spider
plants clung everywhere
they were on tables accent tables eschewing where photographs might have
stood
on wallmounted shelves
bookshelves a desk rendered nonfunctional
hung in macramé from decorative hooks in the ceilings
clinging obscuring nooks and crannies
--- Howl ong does it take you to water them when
you do
--- Water them
--- Yes
Theyre in every room they must consume considerable time when you do
--- I dont know
I
couldnt say I dont pay attention to the time I do what it takes Its not
important how long it takes
Would it be important to you
--- Important
Im not sure Id assess houseplants
important
My plants outofdoors I enjoy And like yourself I couldnt say either how
long I take watering them
But Im outside in the air the sun
the weather
Then inevitably something distracts
me captures my attention or I recognise theres something amiss to be corrected
and I immediately take that time then prolonging
my time in the yard
When I go outside theres no such
thing as time
--- Then perhaps youve answered your question in
regards to me watering my spiders
--- Yes Perhaps I have
Though that said not that youd ask me
and not that Id offer to water
them if you had to go out of town on an trip or an extended stay somewhere
--- You wouldnt
If I asked
--- I wouldnt
Thats why I prefaced my remark
Not that youd ask me
Inside is the last place I want
to be
Inside is claustrophobic Walls
Kennels
--- Yet youre inside with me now
--- You must rate huh
--- I must
So no I dont pay attention to the
time it takes
Sometimes it even seems they take
care of themselves their soil moist long after Ive watered them
he stuck his fingers into the
soil of a couple plants
---
Moist Yes
--- And its been weeks
looking around
--- Do you keep your windows closed
not let fresh air in
--- Other things come inside with fresh air
--- Other things are outside in the fresh air
--- What are you suggesting
--- Nothing
I wouldnt suggest Suggest suggests judgment an youre your own beast
--- Beast
--- Rephrase
Your own animal Earthling
--- Did you say earthling
--- Am I sounding a little too scifi or sketchy for
you
--- Im not sure
--- What I mean
were like all all things living on the planet Were earthlings
None better or worse Sharing
Or I think rather meant to be shared
What takes exception is religion
Religions got to drags its dick
through everything Suppose lookin for a furrowAny furrow will do Plant their seedif ya catch my drift
Whas K J V Yahyah King
James version
My
notion is K J C King James crap
Genesis
Genesis one chapter twentysix
God created Man in his image
Then it gets weird
His idear Let us make man in our image after our
likeness
Whose image Whose likeness is He talkin bout
He elaborates And let them have dominion of over the fish of
the sea the fowl in the air over all the earth over every creeping thing that
creepethWho uses creepeth Creepeth upon
the earth
I dont believe dominion meant
domination Its waste
--- Seems I struck a nerve
--- No Nah
Im just intolerant
Religiously
Exactly like my religious
counterparts despite what they say
--- Im not exactly religious
--- I know
--- How do you know
--- Because if you were I wouldnt be here
--- Or because if I were
you
wouldnt be here
--- Exactly Then useless as tits on a bull Useless
--- I dont know what to say
--- Say Howbout a drink
--- You think I brought you here for a drink
--- I didnt think anything except helping you
with your groceriesYou needed help but had that look Oh fuck Its more than I
thought
I dont need help
I thought Id share the lift with
you
--- Such a gentleman
--- Dont get lost in that No gentleman Not
sweet I just dont want my maw materialising out of the ether screaming
Wha kind
of bum did I raise if I walked past you
--- A boy scout
--- Says a girl scout
--- Then I suppose we have that scenthuh
--- Scentnah Id call it pheromoans
--- You said phero moans
--- I did
--- Your mother wouldnt appear out of the ether
for a crack like that
--- Nah
She cant read lipsshe reacts to what she sees See
--- A handful of boy scout arent you
--- Then some
Im handy
You recognise your pauses are
getting longer
--- Youve noticed
--- Not really
I tend to invoke pauses
You cant talk to me if you dont
want me to say exactly what I mean
--- And mean exactly what you say
--- Tits
--- Im not saying it
--- Its just a word
You ought to try
Somebody who lives cooped up
needs to let their hair downItll feel good to your scalp
--- My scalp
--- You aint autonomous baby You got your parts
and you ought to respect em
--- Are you suspicious
--- Out of left field
If I have suspicions inklings I
give em wide berth
I do not participate
I dont want any drauma
--- You said drau ma
like trauma
--- Give the lil lady a lollipop I did
she rolled her eyes
My maw aint in yer head either
Shes deaf to yakyak So if you aint offering me a drink for my labours would ya
like to go out for a beer
--- I didnt say
I wouldnt offer you a
drink
--- No you didnt Except I got
this powerful thirst an a beer sounds like what Ill need for the parchedness
Whaddayasay
--- On me
--- I couldnt imagine a better scenario than cold beer
on you all over you
Yer pausing again
--- I am Yes
Repartee isnt my strong suit
--- Id like to have ya at yer strong suit
In yer swimsuit hell yer birthday
suit
Gitya bucknaked
In a manner of speakin
--- I dont know if youre teasing me teasing with
me or mean exactly what you say
--- I told you I mean exactly what I say
Refreshin
like a cold beer a cold shower
a turned cold shoulder all warmed up
--- Okay
We should go
--- Yer neighborhood Yer buying
Im in yer hands
* * *
they came back to her place after
beers shots and dinner Coffee
she asked if hed like to come
back to her place for a drink
the spider plants roused when
they entered
their spiderettes quivered
they quivered again when she left
the room and he went to open the livingroom window overlooking the sideyard
he missed their motions
though they waited for him to turn his back
he also missed that they quivered
against the soft cool breeze entering the window slipping down off the western
hills
gently
parting her dainty curtains gently
slipped aside gently undulating on its
breath
she returned to the livingroom wearing
a black and rust caftan African print
beyond him seeing the window opened
she said You couldnt resist could you
--- I have no willpower to resist
Im hopin its catchin communicable Contagious
--- But then Id be the only one infected
--- Yes
Only you
Exertin my dominion
Dominion she said as she went to a small almost unseen
dry bar nearly cloaked in sheaths of green tendrils
Not domination I recall
--- You were listenin
--- I was
Bourbon
--- Please
Neat
--- The only way to take this bourbon
--- Im passin a test arent I
--- All afternoon evening long
he heard the bottle gurgle high
in its throat as she poured the spirit into two glasses
a handsome cutglass decanter obscured
by plants
he didnt see that they drew back
as she reached for the glasses and decanter
she turned back towards him and
watched him as he walked across the long livingroom sidestepping her eclectic
furnishings over to the overstuffed sofa and sit
and sit erect athletic
leaning slightly forward
a
big cat in a tree under which its prey walked cautiously or demurely
nosing the air unalarmed his
scent running downwind high over its head in the moist green air
she crossed the room to him
holding the glasses before her
he could smell their liquor
the
vapors emanating chased by the heat in her hands at the glass
immediately an
oak nose a slight caramel note then
an earthy leather crush
she handed him his bourbon
sat beside him
sideslipped nearer him to his
warm Better
she held her glass up offering it to be clinked by his
he anticipated that
--- To dominion
--- And to its various domains
toasted he said Yer gettin better by the moment girl
Repartee
with a rapier
--- And youre language remains mired in
double entendre
--- Yes
Up to its hips in muck
--- Muck
--- Id love to
Thought
youd never come around to it
she laughed
her mouth wide open
her hand uneager
to stifle it
he set his glass down on the
sidetable among the jungle
took hers and placed it beside his
and as her laugh simmered to a soft mewing he put his arm around her his
hand to the back of her neck took her mouth under his their tongues twined intoxicated serpents
kissing deeply he took his hand
from her neck and clutched her breast it
free under the caftan
her breast firmed her breath
caught her nipple responded ardently
somehow unbroken from the others clutch they made the bedroom
it was warmed and fluttering by buttermilk candlelight
he stepped back into
the livingroom naked
copped their glasses of bourbon and returned to her
they
played more an some more they turned
their glasses before the tall flickering flame enjoyed the restless reliefs
and
striations playing mutely on their bodies
he
took her with his mouth
she hadnt liked it before
he
made her take him in her mouth
she hadnt liked it before
then exhausted
slightly drunk
he smiled at her down into her
face an swept teardrops from her eyes with his thumbs
and when they wouldnt cease he
kissed and perfectly licked them from her crushed eyelids
babying her with hushed there there there an sshh sshh
quiet sweet girl
unable to salve her tears he laid
back on the bed pulled her gently to him
and held her
simply held her
without understanding without
judgment
until sleep took them
he didnt wake when her glass fell
onto the bed pushed by an clumsy
immature spiderette
she woke caught her breath her tears welled in her eyes again
she deftly escaped the bed
without waking him
he was so beautiful in the blue
moonlight
hed cracked the blinds so they
were striped in cast bars like Twenties
erotica their eyes the windows to their souls secreted
hidden from the other made
foreign and foreign queerly unknown unknown to themselves or each other then strangers and then strangers fucking strangely uninhibited
their bodies dispensed light and
darker pieces morsels skewered into smaller
delectable portions to eat
delicious
relished
he stirred almost not at all so very lightly when he was stung
she expected that of him
he had beautiful scars she traced them with her fingertips making him
explain minutely how they happened if
they hurt badly
No he said he said he was
comfortable maybe too comfortable with pain
It keeps you in the moment in the here and now
the plants crowded descended upon
him
on his unconscious beautiful body
they fed
where
her mouth had kissed him and teased
where she playfully bit him extracting comical ouches and in return he
pinched her grabbed handful of her ass
and thighs her breasts sucked on her skin bruising her he promised where no one would see
she whispered No one ever looks at me
Everyone looks at you so Im being very deliberate so no one will know I ate you
her tears
plants silently padded in from
the outside rooms helping themselves
they left heavier engorged
soft thuds scratchier slides
then he wasnt there
only the dominion he talked of
0154, Twosday,
1 3. 16
1444, Day-between-Two-Ts, 2 3.
16
