He thought he was tougher than
that
but apparently he had a soft side
for softheads
he found himself surprisingly
sensitive to Faulkners words from The Sound and the
Fury:
“And folks dont like to look at a
looney. Taint no luck in it.”
reading the line upset him it upset him something fierce
its sentiment were true in
‘29 true in ’67
nearly forty years growing up
but content to be as stupid
as if no time at all had passed
looneys retards
misfits
embarrassments
through no fault of their own and
yet
still faulted
because
they Made everything suddenly inconvenient
slowed everyone up
and they really resented being
slowed up
not that they had anything to
speed to
but because they were
impatient
and selfish
and a looney needed to be cared
for
needed to be
tended
and Selfishness had to sit back
and take it
because Selfishness was only
interested in itself
-- Let the looney fend for himself I got to
-- An you got a lick of sense lucky you
a looney was a shackle everyone
tried to slip
and shackled to it
Yes It
It wasnt even human
as
an inconvenience isnt human
Its a thing
-- Cant ya git someone else to do it
-- Aint nobody else Youre it
Ill be back soon You take good
care of him
Ill know if you dont
and she did
her soul was wound up inside out with his and she felt every slight every
injury every hurt
he ever suffered as
if it fell on her own skin inside her
own head
Goddammit I hate dat looney
Draggin him round
wipin
his nose
keepin him happy
tryin
to make him happy when he gets to start bawlin
-- Dammit
Ill slap ya if ya dont shaddup
The look he gives me the tears
welling up in his eyes almost to say You slap me anyway
Im cryin cuz I know
yare gonna mistreat me Yall slap me and
slap and slap and slap
and slap me as
if I were a thing that cant feel anything
and he slapped him because he
looked at him too long
then was immediately angered more
because the mark from the slap on his face wasnt going to fade before
she got back
and she never never never understood why he had to hit him
she never did
not ever
Stupid looney Why doncha just die
no matter not ’29
’67 or 2014
looneys
always screwing something up for other people
and they have to be put out and they have to be responsible because the
looney cant
because the looney cant
she came home
the mark was on his face
she punished him
and getting up off the bed still
holding her hairbrush in her hand
-- Because he cant Youre right
He cant do most things you can do
You ought to try and remember
that most every little thing you can do
And then think
He cant
or ever will
2200, Day-Between-Two-Ts, 5 11.
14
