Is homelessness one step up from death

                                           I cant think of a net stretched beneath tha highwire act

Act  Im being facetious

    You don’t have homelessness at home?

Not to speak of A few too rural

                                 The homeless accompanyinfakers gravitate to cities south

Bigger populations

Sidewalks

    Sidewalks?

Yakiddin me First sidewalk I hit leavin home walkin south is four blocks off

Your homeless inundate the concrete  nest in underpasses overpasses

                                                                           Sometimes remind me of unattractive Matryoshkas

Arya sure theyre not

Jesus Papa.  Harsh.

My sympathies

                 I hear it in your voice when the subject arises when we talk on the phone

There are considerably more since you moved here

Ohmy. Considerably. nodded  grim   Yes.

One step up from death

Greenbelts, alleyways, RVs, encampments.

                                               A lot.  Not that officials can put their finger on it.

So youd agree  One step

I could agree.

    Land of the Free Home of the Brave kiddo

1130,  SeattleSunday,  18  5. 25

1158,  Tuesday,  27  5. 25

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/king-county-setting-records-for-homeless-deaths-is-becoming-awfully-routine/

Papa, coffee this morning? Uncle?  she asked from the kitchen

they sat in the livingroom across from each other separated by an Oriental carpet on a hardwood floor he in an upholstered chair Uncle on a loveseat

                                            Don want to put you out babe

No thanks, kiddo, I don’t drink coffee. said Uncle

It’s no trouble. that was her to a T  nothing if she thought to do it was trouble 

                                                                       I’ve an idea.

Cacaopronounced ca-cow. Wouldya consider a cup of cacao? 

cup of cacao captured his imagination

Uncles face was inquisitive  though noncommittal

Cocoa

No. Similar. More nutritious less processed.

    Yes please  Ill have a cup

I use a French press.

I’ll have a cup too, please.

This wont be a Jekyll an Hyde will it

a little laugh percolated from the kitchen

                                           What?  I don’t know who or what that is, are.

No he was ridiculous  Ive failed you as a father

As an uncle your father failed you.

her laughter escalated

                               Niice.

When finished I usually tap it with an organic vanilla creamer. Interested?

When in Rome do as the Romans do  Please

Yes. I’ll second that.

                      looking from the loveseat at him What have we gotten ourselves into?

Nothing we cant handle

 

    they sipped warm  creeamy

                                    if a Robert Louis Stevenson potion  all Jekyll giggles when prior to sipping he heldup his cup and posed  Na Zdrowie

Na Zdrowie! they chimed clinking the lips of their cups

1130,  SeattleSunday,  18  5. 25

1045,  Tuesday,  27  5. 25

eek

she didnt press itcould have  was   tempted

                                                 figuredhowever  she put her foot in it

 

figured initiative and common sense factor ICk factor was more than the woman could tolerate

    despite her having to tolerate her

to no one  I coud go a step more

Coud you

there they were  they were conspicuously quiet earlier

                                                           I coud

Were all ears  We dug your ICk factor

                                         Sounds like whaya got is along the same lines We promise not to peeknot to go through your drawers

But you do

    We do

Though since you rolled out ICk factordidnt keep it to yourself  we thought you might

                                                                                          we decided not to toss the place

Not to

No

     We decided to remainmaintain our anticipation

Carly

In the day  Attractive

Yes

But we digress

Which were exceptional at it

Yes  Were anxious

                    Wha

E  K   Y exponential

A new factor

Yah EKy factor

Which woud be

You don wanna guess

OhHellno

              Balls in your court

Im a little proud

Humble you

Lil ol humble me

                   But on occasion I don mind bustin my buttons

Bust away

Experience an knowledge

                             I gotem in spades over tha cunt

You do

I do

    We dig it

I do too

Holdin as backup

Unlikely

         My thirty will bring in the ten or more  Im comfortable  Ansaved time doin it only once

EKy factor

            Clever factors boss

Please

         Don call me tha

Our apologies

Accepted

0859,  Monday,  19  5. 25

1246,  Tuesday,  27  5. 25

Carly Simon  Anticipation  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BELWbkyOVPQ

Kantner/Jefferson Starship  Hijack  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H57IyHNq-_8

icky

Boss  Youve no idea

                       I can do my job unsaid An yours because I possess the ick factorwhas tha you may wonder

                                            You wonder

    I’ll bite. she hadnt the teeth   

Spelled I  C  the k is actually an exponent

                                                 You know exponent

In math, yes.

Fine  Then think of the k exponentially

                                          Indicating the number of times the base the I an C  is multiplied by itself

You’re not making any sense.

Actually

            A lot of sense 

Cleanse for a moment your consideration  unstick your brain of the numbered math equation 

Rather  Drop in letters

I  C  to the k

    Canya do tha

I can.

       I see. I follow you.

Great boss

            Now thaya can see I C to the k you need only understand that the I means Initiative of which I have loads an C as Common sense

Exponent k can be square cubed or more

The ick factor replete

    Follow

                                                                                                                                    

You insist I have no initiative

You told me to send out ten inquiries

You had to know from the getgo tha wed be fortunate if we received half of them back given they were unsolicitedbut  you need a minimum of ten applicants

Hence

        Rather than failing by fifty percent or more I sent thirty improving our chances being efficient a go the gate  than having to return again to send out another ten

Ten

     Your habitual increment  Woudntya say

Initiative

Common sense

Ive the ick factor Anthas wha you want to complain about unsaid Bitch about   Boss   Definitely   Shes the bitch about

clearing her throattrying to intimidate

                                 When I tell you to do something . . you do exactly as I say.

Lets bet if we get your ten applicants from my thirty issues Ill put money where my mouth is

You’re insubordinat . .

. . An churlish 

                 Im a churlish kind of girl

An Im right  Im correct

 

Wanna bet

              Then once an for all we can quit this  wha I call   nonsense

0859,  Monday,  19  5. 25

0922,  Tuesday,  27  5. 25

he was grateful he overheard itwas tempted to pinch himself   however  his hearing was sharpcould heard a dog whistle

               a oncegirlfriend at his declaration laughed  Makes sense. You’re a dog.

Youah  complainin

Check your hearingsound like I was . . . or grateful?

    Grateful

Yeah.

          A dog that came bearing a bone . wouldn’t fetch . . but otherwise did what I asked, did exactly what I wanted.

Everything you wanted

In a heartbeat.

We have tha goin for us

Yes we do.

    if she wasnt killed in a car crash . . .

                                                no matter  was unfortunate water under the bridge

 

it wasnt often buddy was berated by anyone other him fuckinpriceless when buddys son did

buddy mentioned  fever dream

                                 son asked  Feeble dream?

Ive not known you to ever share . . a worthwhile dream.

I can’t remember one.

Dad?

    What?

Would you care to relate, since it’s yours?

 

he looked uncomfortableperturbed

                              Having and remembering are two different things . . but I woke and remember thinking . . . that was a fever dream.

    Were you ill?

No.

You weren’t ill?

No.

    Then how is it a fever dream . you can’t remember . you . yet . . describe a fever dream?

Because.

                 That’s what it was.

son muttered Fuck.

he said Yasaid it

                     I contend with this once a weekevery ten days

Hes intriguinkinda of like  draggin a drowning man to a lifesaver  pullin him to safetythe shallows where he can find his feet stand on his own

I’m standing right here.

didnt turn his heads to look at him Anyare welcome

 

It was . .

. . son cut him short  at the knees  A feeble dream.   Unless you have particulars.

Sunday afternoon,  25  5. 25

521 preferred,  Monday – Memorial Day,  26  5. 25

Mama Cass  Dream A Little Dream For Me  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ0PZRYin2s

switcheroo

it doesnt matter the apparatus usedbridge staircase trampoline springboard  to enter a thought ideation evolution

            she said . . . the ol’ switcheroo

he hung on her wordscribbled it down

what she used it in reference to  tried

                                                  but couldnt remember

he spent the prior afternoon explaining to millennialswho he thought given their wideranging educations military University of California Stanford  would have thought wideread their parents of his generation would have known   his daughters GenX a millennial

                                                            they knew switcheroo

he enjoyed how the word played on his tongue and how often he played that shit on unsuspecting family and friendsthinking

                     they knew him

how did they continually fail to learn that straight answers out of his maw were ever circuitous  opaque

    opague the words delicious

transparent

              nothings transparent even if the one who espouses it insists it isHORSEshit

he    couldnt  remember      what context she used it in

                                                               bugged himyet thats an excuse they talked on the telephone threeplushours covering lotsanlots of ground anif it came up in conversation about cards in the neighbourhood they grewup with  there wasnt a house on the block or the block north and south that didnt have at least five kids  four  with a dozen

                                              DEM WERE THE DAYS

Ol’ switcheroo

which switcheroo

hed bet she wouldnt remember either

that placated him

next time they talked hed ask andd and would ask with his finger crossed behind his back even though they couldnt see each other or want to  FaceTime 

    was Skype still a thing Microsoft shut it down May 5, 2025

                                                                         blink today  theyd miss something

but not that all things should be seen

for example   OnlyFans

                          learned about that from a millennial  Bonnie Blue  sex with more than a thousand men in a day

he assumed sex included men who watched online tugging their cocks

                                                                           or otherwise

Bonnie took it in the ass vaginally her mouth while jagging offhas two hands  five at once  and Gawd knows the mentalitymeniality Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am  blew their loads in a heartbeatNEXT

    gave new meaning to Flood the zone

1740,  reggaefriday,  23  5. 25

1552,  Monday – Memorial Day,  26  5. 25

BeeGees  Lonely Days  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO4gDjnjW0E

rearverse

                     he liked that an awful lot

had typed reverse in Word glancedup at the screen and otherwise saw his eyes loved to mess with him he loved playing tricks on himself little difference to haggle over

rearverse

what it meant to him he kept to himself

                                          but

he threw it out like political redmeat to let people deviseinterpret what it meant to them if it meant anything because most cringed saidThat’s not a word.                                               

It is if I say it is he could have been humbler

                                          Ive said

What do you mean?

Its not important wha I mean or tha I give you a signpost  context

                                                                     Rather Wha it triggers in you other than the flimsy excuse That’s not a word.

Imagine

 

    she said by trade a psychiatrist family gatheredround the pool  Memorial Day barbecue later beers now My father-in-law says you have seen ghosts.

Yes  He doesnt

He doesn’t believe in them.

He does not he wont

                           Hes not susceptible

    Susceptible.   Curious choice of words.

Not really

           Hes mired in hard science anif by his reasoning rational a subject is outside that realm he readily denies ithis catchword  Implausible  Or improbable

Hes agnostic

Agnostic? Again. A curious choice of words.

Hes more concerned with IQ  Wha woudya guess his EQ

she nodded

             she knew as did he

Thasaid  Hes unimaginative

                                 Im extremely imaginativehad to be in a household of eleven an only trips taken as a child were Sunday afternoon picnics

But I had books

They incited my imagination

 

If one lacks imagination they cant possibly be susceptible to ghosts

Ghosts woudnt waste their valuable time

Sunday afternoon,  25  5. 25

1209,  Monday – Memorial Day,  26  5. 25

Rockwell  Somebody’s Watching Me  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNBilAoaCjs

shy came to bed late  she usually does

                                           before bed he walks through the housethe hall light the only illumination to find the cats to stoke them the last time for the day wish them a good night tell them  I love you

     

in bed  flat on his back pillows to either side of his head

                                                             sometimes before he falls asleep she leaps up

cuddles to him edge of his ribcage leftie always tuckedup to his groin rests her head  occasionally a foreleg

he imagines

              she listens to the bellows of his breathing  the stirring of his heart  feels the warmth emanate washingup his body from his loins

0626,  Sunday,  25  5. 25

0956,  Monday – Memorial Day,  26  5. 25

talk about irritation

                      https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-lays-wreath-arlington-national-cemetery-mark-memorial/story?id=122196246

he could only imagine how irritated felon was having to take time from golf to meet a presidential obligation sans The First Lady  lay a wreath make remarks about dead military men and women who he believeshas said  “. . . are losers and suckers.”

                                     https://www.yahoo.com/news/facts-behind-claim-trump-called-204100717.html

    had seen red

                  not blood red  seething seeing things  devising strategies to counter provocations

humoured

            found it funny

he was usually the provocateur the irritator

                                                    because

just something about a person or how they spoke irritated him

    prone to prickly heat as a child his parents didnt seek or remedy why he suffered so many allergies  his nose ran he scratchedthey shrugged

                                       asif to say  Deal with it.

irritated him

although he learnedunderstood they hadnt any skin in the game

                                                                  and when his bodily irritations got the best of himprovoked himhe acted up  theyd take him down a peg for his ill manner a strap across the ass and when he tolerated that too well then across the backs of his thighsthatll wake him up  make him present

    so as an adult

he didnt tolerate people who rubbed him wrong

                                                   he laughed   found it funny

a fella remarked that they loved their wife

Really

    Excuse me.  You hafta say it like that?sound like that?

Yah

       Because cominout of your mouth it sounds more like youre saying I tolerate my wifegood chance she tolerates you

               I love my husband, love, love, love, my husband.

 

he sees red

    occasionally  bloodred    

6AM,  Sunday,  25  5. 25

1046,  Monday – Memorial Day,  26  5. 25