since Kris departedhe liked departed to died because died evinced a finality he didnt believe in   

he wasnt convinced by religionnot by esoteric beliefs which provoke recoil or the mention of heretical  but rather by the directive of science  lifes energy isnt different from other energies  it is malleable shapechanging and never exhausted

where she went or what she became served his selfishadmittedly ferociousadmittedly intent

he didnt forgive her 

               he was unable to forgive her for the years and years of deliberate abuseher ostracising her bitch terseness

if Forgiveness sought his heart it would find he made it out of flawless diamond meat that not even the smallest insects could cling

she made her bed she could rot in ithe didnt know

                            the while others accused him of being cruel and callousthey believed their words were hurtful their remedy was to try and compromise him  denigrate him 

he looked into their pious flushed faces

he inhaled delicately  as if breathing the fragrance of lilac or lily-of-the-valley or violet or wisteria blossoms

then stone cold deadeyed he said Youre pathetic You have no idea what youre talking about  Regarding her me being callus is an understatement  What you ought to give me is that slender facet(he held his hands up before his face palm to palm scarcely apart) that facet that stands immediately beside hate  Sharp-edged and gleaming   Then maybe youll have a sense of my contempt 

 

some things never change                             

particularly regarding people
                        

not their entitlement

                                   

not their selfrighteousness                             

certainly not their indolence when they believe somebody else ought to be doing the work or cleaning up in their wake

they didnt know him from Adam

he was a complete stranger to them

but they knew her they thought they did

maybe they thought they were defending her  all of them   all of them against him    they certainly enjoyed the odds

but parasites need a host

                    they needed to be careful they didnt cannibalise each other

he wasnt fresh meat

he wouldnt be infected

he was a rubber offsetting their miserable clap

he couldnt give a rats asseven if he could find one

although  curiously  since her departure he had run headlong into a slew of Krisesstrung like silver beads of dew on a spiderweb 

they found himclung to him through no fault of his own  a Kris-spinneret churning and spinning long strands of silk into the air that floated on the white breeze found him curled and wrapped him

Kris   Kristy     Of course you are                                                                     

it seemed to him unconsciouslycollective unconscious they were trying to salvage and reshape their namesake

they were welcome to its restoration

he wasnt so ignorant or furious to hinge one person to another because of the offchance they shared the same name

he had not met many people who shared his name but instinctively he knew they would be unlike him  theyd be their own person

it was just that that Kris for so long had been in his mouth  tepidly turned into a Derbys Dose  that he needed an a vigorous a stringent mouthwash and time to let its drool dissipate in the dirt

Time

1709, Sunday,  20  8. 17

1120,  Twosday,  22  8. 17

she had to be an artisan                               

                   an artist wouldnt suffice wouldnt cut it  it couldnt commend her agility her fluidity  her deftness

the scarlet cardinal she depicted was stylised slightly elongated  it gave the impression of flightof diving  a hesitation or thought was there  then it was followed by a sensual blur  a notion of speed 

no small chore given it was a static image

                                 a repose

only a true artisan could accomplish what she did with her momentary flourish

he had seen her go in

                 actually she bumped into him as he was coming out

then he was actually pleased with himself 

                                 he hadnt been rude he still conducted himself despite the many years later in the same courtesy manner he did while he kept house with his wife and daughters and always deferring to their needs not harboring the passive--aggressive sentiment other men he spoke with did regarding a womans toiletry  

he  gentlemanly  laid the toilet seat down again after urinating

a simple act though seemingly a far reach these days 

                                          he had entered Mens Rooms only to find toilet seats liberally sprinkled and carelessly unflushed  unflushed even when someone had defecated

All men are pigs he told his daughters

But youre a man

I am he said I am a pig though not as as piggish some   As if they were born in a barn

Gramma says that

She does  And she also said she didnt raise slobs to be suffered by women

the artisan probably didnt realise her art

some fifteen twenty minutes after she vacated the restrooma unisex bathroom stupid he entered it again to do his clean-up chores as the store closed for the night 

lifting the toilet seat a U-shaped seat that only encouraged slobs directing them to urinate without lifting it  to his right the scarlet cardinal peered at himsurprised him  it was splashed on the ivory-coloured plastic with menses 

he wasnt upset

she wasnt deliberate or vile

then he hoped maybe she was

her cardinal rivaled a Pollock throwing

though she literally threw hers blind

he was so impressed he let it remain he didnt wash it away

AHA

    he wanted it to be an affront to the slobs who would use it later  if they werent slobs he expected they would approach management to have washed off as it offended their sense of cleanliness 

menstrual bloodfor whatever reason disgusted some men

it struck him as very natural

it would be a long timeif ever he forgot that fabulous scarlet cardinal

he was grateful he saw it

1919,  Friday,  18  8. 17

1410,  Monday,  21 8. 17