You have a lot of art on your
walls.
Thank you
Your collection is varied,
photographs, photographs that I thought were paintings, oils, watercolours,
newspaper frontpages.
I appreciate you acknowledge News
as art
Two have fingerprint smudges on
them.
Yes.
Yours?
One South Viets Surrender Kennedy Slain are my Maws Yare perceptive
Thank you, all your pieces are captivating, they're not just wallhangings, decorative.
Thatd be a wastehuh
Yes. Some people hang art, others
hang decorations . . his voice trailed off
Not that theres anything wrong
with that you were going to say
Yes. I was.
It goes without saying he bellylaughed
I love that line because we always say it
That’s true, very true, it begs to
be said.
A mighty cute beggar I cant resist
However you did
I didn’t only because you stepped
on my lines, were reading ahead from the script.
Yah Sorry about that chief
Get Smart.
Ah picks up on allusionscaught it on re-runshuh I knew I liked you despite your lousy taste
in professional football teamsthe 49ers
Christ
You ought to speak, da Bears.
I have a reason
Let’s hear your excuse.
No Reason
I have a reasonI was born in Chicago
I was born in Califor . .
.
. Though not San Francisco
I submit, in California, any California team is legitimate.
So youd allow born in Chicago is possibly more than legit
Where you going with this?
Did you just it goes without saying me
I suppose I did.
Fine This is going to my reason for being a Bears
fan all my lifeI was watching them at my
uncles knees between their hands at the coffee tabletheir sweating cans of beer
cigarettes and cigars smouldering in big glass ashtrays
Very descriptive; on with it.
Every child born in Chicago is inoculated made a Bears fan It happens in states back East Never did catch on much west of the
Mississippi though there are pocketsusually college teams Say the Sooners Although prevalent in Texas even for high school
teams
You’re so full of shit.
Nah he pulled his short sleeve up on his left arm
and showed him where he scarred he didnt
tell him it was DPThe wouldnt have known
DPT vaccinations were discontinued before he was born
Well, shit, that looks like that
hurt.
Wouldnt know I was young
Show me your 49ers
scar
he watched expressions tumble
under the skin of his facehe was trying to figure out if he was being serious
or not
So which pieces on the wall
attracted you attention the most
My favorites?
Favourites Favourite
he walked over to a black
narrowframed small painting at the head of the hall leading to the bath and bedrooms
it was executed in red and blue oil stabbed couple
of time with purple
This one intrigues me, and I suppose being intrigued might make it a favourite; you seem drawn to abstracts.
Yes
Do you know the story behind the painting?
I do Thats Tajs painting
You knew the artist?
In a manner of speaking
In a manner of speaking, how do
you mean? Seems either you did or didn’t.
Taj was an elephant She died about seven years back My eldest daughter was an elephant trainershe
knew Taj I knew Taj only from the times
I visited the animal park where my daughter worked with her
She painted it in 2003 when she
was 64
What does it look like to you
I don’t know that I see anything
in it.
Yare perceptive
I’m on the spot, what do you see?
When I tell you youll kick yourself Its I think as plain as the nose on your face
Do tell.
The red oil top to bottom offset right Im giving you a hint
he looked hard again his expressions mixing under his
skin
I
don’t see.
Do you see how the paint
separates near the bottom in two
Another hint
he was upsetting him with his hints Would you just please say? I don’t like this
hinting game.
Sorry I do apologise On rare occasion people have seen it
It’s an abstract, I’m not good with
abstract; I prefer figurative pieces, landscapes, you have those
too.
I do Although you werent drawn to them as much as Tajs
Yes. That is true. Would you say
what you see?
Of course The red figure can you see it as a figure the
earsthe eyes – he pointed to them – the short armsthe longer legs the trunk
Oh my God.
You see
I do. A self-portrait. Taj,
standing erect, as a human being. The purple . . elongations . her tusks . . shes shed.
You see
0304, Reggae Friday, 6 11.
20
1244,
Saturday, 14 11. 20
