the digger pineguerilla pine
weirdlyleering from above the retaining wall at the corner of the porn shop had
reloaded
its pine cones went up its
articulating branch like bullets slipped keenly into a magazine
well not reloaded its pine cones regenerated(wait until someone
figures that one out for a high calibre weapon regenerated bullets nahtoo many ammo
manufacturers itd be squelched there was too much money to be made
the inventor would become a wellarmed wellmunitioned billionaire overnight)
the inventor would become a wellarmed wellmunitioned billionaire overnight)
he recognised too that other
limbs had reloaded
maybe they took turns
articulatinghurling pine cones an maybe all the guerillas limbs were
articulated an could direct an fling pine cones at once
he didnt knowhed only seen that little boy go down in the diners parking
lot ahead of the old man who walked with a cane
he stopped on the sidewalk and
looked up at the guerilla he admired it
gently it nodded again
he was acknowledged
he returned the nod
he didnt think it was oddit didnt
feel odd he felt the tree had his
back
its pine cones were huge an handsomesome were green an tight like a bunched fist others were brown an scabrous
a type of pine cone that fragged as well as pummeled or deftly penetrated
a type of pine cone that fragged as well as pummeled or deftly penetrated
the guerilla pine had a complete
arsenal which was as obvious as it was inobvious
the inanimate was unsuspected
the inanimate couldnt draw attention to itself
unless those like he
who watchedwho had a fetishan appreciationwho animated the inanimate saw
if anyone had paid attention to
him stoppedstanding on the sidewalk beside the main street saw him looking up
the hill apparently at the ignominious porn shop(pluck out his offending eyes!)
they may have tried to follow his gaze tried to determine what drew his eyepossessed
him then given up
a lot of townspeople or others passing
through were aware of him he read while
he walked
he drew their attention because
they thought for sure hed walk into something trip over a broken sidewalk fall in
the street off the older high curbs miss a light an walk into traffic
he frustrated them
from where they watched he seemed
an automaton oblivious yet somehow keenly
aware
his trick wasnt a trick it verged on perfection from decades of
practise if he had to walk by himself he
read
then he upped the ante
he wore provocative tshirts which politically an socially opposed the rural
communitys mainstreamas well its neighbouring communities
it tickled him
their intolerancethose who took
exception to his selfexpression reminded him of that edifice he pitied plainly they would have adored they should remember that facile clever 60s prod Love It or Leave It
hicks rednecks racists ignoramuses
were stuck
of course they would want you to
leave
theyd get lost if they did
he finally decided to move on
he subtly nodded to the tree
it winked in return
he walked
not twenty metres down the
sidewalk reading he crossed into the drive that led up into the diners parking
lot
a huge white FORD pickup truck
made a left crossing traffic to enter
it made like it wasnt going to
stopthe driver laid on the hornthe vehicle still rolling
he didnt stop walkinghe was on the sidewalk
he had the rightofway
he was reading
the driver braked hardstopped
oncoming traffic stopped
through
his open window the driver berated him foully at the top of his lungs
he still didnt
look up out of his book
something whistled behind his head
THUDglass shattered
an collapsed
the drivers screaming stopped
oncoming traffic began blowing their horns
still
walking he finally looked up an back to his right
he
saw what he calculated when he heard the whistlethe THUD
the
FORDs windshield was smashed
pieces
of a smashed green pine cone lay on its hoodin the street
he shook his head to his unspoke
thought WHAT A CLUSTERFUCK BROUGHT
IT ON YOURSELF CLOWN
an turning so he walked backwards
on the sidewalk he look up at the guerilla pineraised his hand in thanksin
acknowledgement
a different articulated limb bobbedit
halted then bobbed again
he heard police sirens
he didnt stophe didnt see a
thing
he was reading
1347, Thursday – Pearl Harbor, 7 12.
17
1206, Friday, 8 12.
17
