there are recipes for writing as there are recipes for cooking baking pickling drying

ingredients too

the ingredients for writing however arent as readily available as it is to run down and fetch from the grocers

he walked to the grocers a canvas bag over his shoulder 

                                                           and often while walking he came upon odd ingredients he would have had to been blind to miss and incorporate them into pieces 

                                                                            no measuring spoons glass Anchor Hocking measuring cups no pots and pans or sieves no greased and floured baking tins or glassware  stoneware

 

he did get an interesting recipe last evening  Vita & Virginia  Virginia Woolf  Mrs Dalloway  The Lighthouse  Orlando  Vita was the muse for Orlando

“. . you must let the eye lick it all up

all that deliciousness

and then the brain will settle itself down

and watch things happening

without troubling itself to think”

marvelous 

          not that it told him what to do  but rather that it confirmed what he taught himself

 

 

a potbellied toad squatted on its haunches in the crotch of twinned trees 

                                                                            Once upon a time they were triplets  the toad was carved from the stump of the third

clever 

       it became less clever when it belched as he walked past

kneejerk reaction he answeredattended belches as he answeredattended sneezes  Gawd bless you

the toad couldnt thank him  it lacked an articulating tongue jaws teeth voicebox and any modicum of human language  English  were it to speak to him 

                                   rather it assumed his benevolence and nodded its thanks

before he could catch himself he politely nodded in kind 

                                                                 Man  toads made of wood

he excused a wooden toad

if he were a lesser manan insecure man he might have looked around to see if anyone overheard him

being who he was 

                     he couldnt give a fuck

he almost waited for the toad to bust into DeNiros Taxi Driver bit  Ya talkin to me  Ya talkin to me  Im the only one here Ya talkin to me

but frankly the sapling didnt look old enough to have been seededsprouted to have overheard the speech

bitch to have roots 

                    he didnt  picked his up years ago an hadnt put them down  just never found a place he wanted to commit to wanted to call Home 

                                yaknow   Home Sweet Home

so he intruded on his folks 

                            Yamind if I keep my attachment to Home with youse 

they were tickled

when they were fixing to sell his childhood hometheir home they asked him if that would be alright

that was mighty nice of em 

                             Thank you but no thank you  Its your house  You do whacha like

they sold it

the new owner tore it down

a onehundredten year old house bulldozed  brick foundation  true roughcut 2X4s 2X6s bigger bearingbeams and posts  slat and plaster walls  white oak baseboard and trim  stained glass and other decorative leadglass windows

it was down a couple of weeks before family said  his folks never said   he hadnt gone back to the old neighbourhood since

twenty years later at the thought of it his next thought was to firebomb the structure that replaced the house he grew up in

 

he stepped back didnt turn around just threw it in reverse 

                                                            Ya okay toad

it nodded

couldntve known what he asked  maybe surmised by the tone of his voice  his concerned expression

sometimes communication didnt need wordsthe same language

he and a stumped tree apparently didn’t

someone was deliberate  and exquisite  with their knife or knives

had the stump been left taller a crown on the toads head wouldnt have been inappropriate

despite its humourous posture  there was a regalness to its expression  asif it was caught breaking wind  kings fart everyone farts 

               yes  even beautiful women fart 

however in light of his experiences  it wasnt wise to say 

                                                           he couldnt help himself

he was a truthteller

and not only was he willing to tell the truth

                                              he didnt suppress a fart if one ached for freedom

Excuse me

Excuse you? That was rude.

Nahnope  That was fuckin human

he couldnt sayhow many farts stood between him and a beautiful relationship fuckya  he was being melodramatic if a fart stood in the way of a relationship it wasnt a relationship to be hadBAM

                                                                            he was surprised how many guys thought otherwise  I’d’ve given my left nuts to spend my life with her  Yafuck it wouldve cost ya more than your nut  he didnt get these guys  they were full of shit

                                       they didnt think they were  not to have a woman like that on their arm

hell with his arm  he wanted a woman under himover himbehind herflipped around sixtynine under on top inside hell with his arm

 

Toad  Names Joe  Hope yer belly settles down

it blinked one bulbous eye

                            then the other

imagine  a piece of wood and him speaking the same language

Have a fine day  Ill be seein ya again

the quickest of nods

                      or the sunlight fluttered  a diffuse cloud casting an abrupt shadow

  

3216,  Sunday,  7  2. 21

2307,  Monday,  8  2. 21