she had a house
she and her
husband had a housetheyve had several
this house had an enclosed
claytiled patio
the tiles looked like ingots
separate
coarse
uneven
one was foolish if they didnt
wear shoes to protect their soles
on the end that shared a wall
with the rest of the house was a built-in bookcase
eight shelves
the lowest two were equally tallest and held leather photograph albums monographs folios artbooks and
atlases
the six remaining shelf heights
diminished as the bookcase approached the ceiling
the top shelf was hers crowning the bookcase with literary
collections first editions autographed some
numbered
among them were Anais Nins that
he gifted her Linotte Incest Venus of Delta Little Birds A Spy in the House of Love a housewarming gift
also interspersed on the shelf
were wheeled toys her parents gave her when she learned to walk one was a wood handcarved duck on four orange
wheels on which an oblong pastel orange yellow purple ivory egg turned over and
over on the wheels as she pulled it behind her
it was forty
years old
it was a joy to see her innocence
displayed beside her knowingness a
spectrum that could be easily overlooked if one didnt know what they were
looking at
hadnt read Nin
he first read Nin his freshman
year in the library at Chicago Circle campus
through its tall windows he
watched the erection of Sears Tower then
what would be the tallest building in the world
it was a heady time
he was eighteen demonstrated against Nam ducked Chicago cops on horseback who wielded their animals
through the crowd and swung at skulls with batons like wayward drunken polo players
his first black girlfriend first menage a trois with visiting French students
made LSD in Chem lab randomly stole cars and left them for cash with greasy men who
spirited them off to shops to be chopped hustled pool turned quick green
he was a nuisance not a criminal
it didnt hurt to have friends
inside the police force who werent riding horses and squeezed mules
confiscated contraband shared it he turned it enjoyed a fair cut
it was fun
it was nice to have assets
it was nice to have assets to be
able to split when the squeeze flipped
he had ambition
but he wasnt an implacable greedy
prick
heady times
that she knew nothing
about
never would
it seemed enough she knew he dug
Nin
2211, Twosday,
17 12. 19
1117, Saturday,
2 5. 20
