he saw thisobserved this and couldnt help but wondered why it was or if he considered it legitimately
a young boy perhaps 4
waddled side-to-side as he walked
a vivid example of the proverbial two-steps forward
one-step back
stalking forward the boy emerged past an
aisle endcap into the broad aisle running before the butchers counter
a cart emerged behind him
the boy went right
the cart followed
following the cart emerged the
boys mother
their resemblance was uncanny utterly irrefutable
she too waddled two-steps forward
one-back
waddle is very descriptive verb
particularly when neither the boy
nor his mother were fat
fat people waddle because
they really cant risk getting out ahead of themselves
T I M B E R !!
you
know theres no way in hell you can stop their fall despite really wanting to theyd
take you with them probably snap your
neck or rip your arms from their sockets
he wasnt without empathy
once he saved a newly finished
woodfloor(he liked the floor more than the tenants) when a hideabed stood on end was bumped off
its end before it smashed the floor
he snagged it one-armed and for his effort he snapped
the bicep tendon in his left arm he heard
what he thought was a gunshot What was
that he exclaimed What the four others
asked blinking like dull birds
he wasnt without empathy
bewildered he watched the mother and childs syncopation
choreography they moved like iceskaters push
push
push
they went right into an aisle
three up from where they appeared
he paused as they went out of
sight to see if anyone else on the long meat aisle watched them
no one apparently
apparently he was the only one interested
in their unique mirrored cadence
they walked as if they stopped to
smell the roses with every stride they tookwhich would be admirable if they were
smelling roses not just making
their way through the day
side to
side to sideif you walked behind them youd have to time
your passslip sideways to make it by them one at a time he wasnt being obnoxious they were oblivious
to prove his assumption he
beat ass up the meat aisle to the aisle they entered and he did have to time his passing
of her and the cart then her son
there was no way he could pass
both in a sudden rush
they consumed the entire side of
the aisle where their bodies swung
like mother like son
they walked as if they were at sea
hed done that too
sealegs were a different
animal than landlegs
if you
were at sea for anything more than a long day you walked the land side-to-side
as if you were still on the water
it was a unique sensation
he loved it
maybe the boy and his mother were
seafarers
they werent a halfhour inland from
the nearest harbor
maybe
he gave them one more look
then grabbed up a cellophane bag of HOT ‘N SPICY Chicharrones and made
for the cashiers
they still sway in his eyes
he hoped they were off to some distant
exotic port letting the sea be their
teachers
landlocked the kid would be doomedabused by school children
kids
were cruel devastating if you stood out for any reason
sleazy little bastards
they rarely changed their stripe when they grow up
sometime August, 2017
The Shaggs The Philosophy of the World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxPsXPCR5MU
