13

as he wrote the date and time on the page he stopped  he was arrested the 13th  13  12. the time was 12:13 or as he preferred 0013 hrs

there was a lot going on there and if he didnt acknowledge it he was sure something would be miffed

                                                                                                          like walking into a fist fight  three on one  and not doing anything about it hed have surprise on his side one would never see it coming and that one rocked with extreme prejudice and out of the game if the guy taking the beating wasnt beaten too badly  two – on – two  suddenly a fair fight  he couldnt walk away without violating his ethicshis sense of right

he wouldnt walk away either from these numbers  their confluence

funny curious numbers to randomly have noticedcaptured 

or they let him think he captured them

                                          and what really  is that   or are those

he saw them as mild comforts quiet accomplishments successes  victories

twelve

thirteen

one standing on the other 

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1    12

1    13 

           a tall column of 1s can be toppled 

                                                or together puncturebreach his feeble confinement

our naturehis nature though he believes it is human nature believes we are clever

it could be the next time someone takes it upon themselves to capture corral 12 and 13 that they may amuse themselves at their captors expense drum up a lack of appreciation by their capture and they escape dismembered into a tower of stacked 1s and topple over the thoughtless the feebly built barricade remember: clever

12 and 13 were being kind to him he knew  that they were playing with him he didnt know   

0022  her legs churn shes asleep shes chasing bunnies hed tell her that in the morning

maybe recognising 22 he inadvertently built elastic walls around 12 and 13  theyre not tall enough to escape

he looked down into the well and at the bottom he sees them squatting 

they look up at him and smiled mischievous smiles

then 12 13 go subterranean they go underground remember: clever

-1

-1

-1

-1

-1

-1

-1

-1

-1

-1

-1

-1   -12

-1   -13

            a number line goes in both directions  it also has axes rays  vectors

he hadnt collected them or contained them

                                             despite his vigilancehis awareness

they are free again

0033  she wakes briefly she needs suction she needs to be boosted upher angle adjusted to breathe better he gets the pillows just so moves them back and forth and side to side Better? she smiles he doesnt see it because of her ventilator mask  he sees her smile in her eyes

capturing them is like capturing time   and holding it still

does he pursue his inmates

does he want to expend more resourcesmore energy

or rather should he laugh at himself for not being cleverfor being inept thinking he could hold them and theyre now fugitives

he would laugh

                 though he knew others who wouldntwho felt they were being made a foolmade the butt of a joke – by none other than themselves – and theyd doubleddown 3 follows 2 theyd tripleddown proclaiming I’ll show you. what they dont say is I’ll show you for showing me up twice before.

                                                                   shallow egos

13  13 encapsulates 12

                            he hadnt accused 13 of anything  he could accuse it of being odd

of being uneven

binary is cherished evenness  compounding   couplings

oddness offends not him

maybe oddness riles and raises insecurities riles creatures that need assurancesneed to be stroked acknowledged held up to be admired he did not

those who tripleddown send out a posse

it races out of town in pursuit of 13 and as they hurtled down main street theyre cheered and waved on

they are salutedacknowledged

                                 and directly behind the whipped upthe frenzied crowd the thundering horse hooves growing faint 13 stood unsuspected enthusiastically waving and cheering blending in when people are embarrassed they dont look aroundthey dont want to be recognisedthey dont want to be remembered  they want to be anonymous in the crowd 

they want to be able to say I wasn’t there. I wasn’t a part of it. No, that wasn’t me.

13 waved at and after the posse more enthusiastically than everyone else fervently  fanatically   freakishly

nobody wants to make eye-contact with the crazed

13 has the commoners to itself

when the posse returned the men when it returned emptyhanded they could have returned to devastation buildings razed  people taken prisoners exploited or destroyed or ransomed

13 didnt

it took what it needed left it remained stepsahead of any pursuits pursuits which eventually faltered chasing their ghosts  and failures 

13 is pitiless

all it had done was be

its being was odd 

it offended

things offensive are tried to be suppressed

overthrown

stamped out

               he supposed no one liked being shown up  bettered

13 didnt care or need to differentiate it knew what it was

he was pleased he caught a glimpse

                                         and a bit more pleased when it glimpsed back        

      

0013,  Friday the 13th,  December 2019

1401,  Saturday,  18  4. 20

Caamp  Feels Like Home  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHTvqUR_UN0

The End -- mercifully

Yaknow wha

What? What?

Ya really wanna hear

I’m sorry, sorry. I’m sorry I’m abrupt.

Are you okay

Yes.  Yes, I’m okay. I’m upset.  I’m frustrated, frustrated by circumstances.

By its  no  way  out

Yes.  Yes, I suppose.

Yaknow  sometimes people are waiting to be put out of their misery

                                                                        An when we help were wrong  Were criminals  murderers  when all we were trying to do only trying to do  is provide them what they asked 

To provide what we would give a suffering animal

When was it that people ascendedexceeded  the love an care an devotion we would provide a suffering animal  A pet

Its kindness not murder  Its something we never wanted

1627,  Friday,  17  4. 20

The Beatles  The End  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12R4FzIhdoQ

Petula Clark  The Windmills of Your Mind  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bcs_nH8SIZU

he watchedlistened to the comedian on the tube

                                                   didnt care for his schtick or shtick some say shtik Germans says stuck Polacks says sztuka the piece the thing  his bit  

but he didnt let his dismay  cat wasnt funny  or not his kind of funny  sideline him  he was fascinated by the performance of the stool behind the comedian  

                                                 whats with comedians and stools as a sidekick  holding a water bottle or a glass always thought to be booze  a mug believed to be coffee an ashtray holding a smouldering cigarette or maybejust maybe the stools sole purpose is as a bludgeon to protect them if theyre attacked if someone in the audience takes exception to their humour 

if someone at a comedy show takes exception they should never have entered

kinda like life

               take exception to it it aint funny Well ya shouldntve come in shouldve stayed where you were Life demands thick skin Thinskinned Aint gonna do well Sensitive Aint gonna do well  Move it along Cuz aint a damn thing funnier than life an the fuckups who inhabit it

yet  the stoolsmaybe theythe comedians believe stools are more stable if they have four legs not really three legs are better than four still comedians perform with four-legged stools but they aint street performers they perform on stage  Appearing Tonight on hardwood floors 

                                          he couldnt help but wonder if they were dragged outsidedragged their stools with em in the dirt on cobblestones on illmaintained pavement cracked and buckling a four-legged stool would wobblewould be unsteady  they might toss what they held 

not a three-legged stool

as he watched the not-funny comedian perform he thought of other comedians he saw  

four-legged

Ahwell if the cat had been funny it never would have occurred to him to watch the quiet inanimate stool behind him and wonder the thoughts he did

1103,  Thursday,  16  4. 20

1527,  Reggae Friday,  17  4. 20

The Beatles  Nowhere Man  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8scSwaKbE64        

              heels of a loaf of bread

                                         he didnt mindas a matter of fact he preferred heels

his grandchildren his daughtershis wife never touched them they let them remain until he ate them he couldnt count the times he caught them throwing the heels away still inside the plastic or cellophane and waxpapered sleeves

for which he had no patience Are you out of your fuckin mind

Joe. Your language. They’re chi . .

. . Their my children goddamn it an Ill be damned if theyre gonna waste food Why do you not see its waste the four of you are wasting foodthrowing it away Hell for that matter you even discourage them from eating leftovers

You eat the leftovers.

I eat leftovers because I enjoy them but also because if I didnt you an they would throw them away

I didn’t eat them when I was a girl. We prefer . .

. . Its not a matter of preference Its food

It’s food then, that you can eat.

the disagreement never abatedwas never solved

                                                    and when his grandchildren were flummoxed he was having a small sandwich coldcuts between heels What are you doing, Grampa, there’s fresh whole loaves of bread in the pantry; why aren’t you having a sandwich with slices of bread from them?  now older  and because they werent his children he curbed his tongue blandly he said Im having the sandwich I want

he still thought they were out of their fuckin minds but he wasnt who informed them or had to live with them

and now the smooth creamy peanut butter the oily organic peanut butter the almond cashew sunflower seed butters

he told his grandchildren that they better keep moving if they stood around too long or lollygagged theyd be turned into butter  smeared on wholegrain crackers and maybe  if they were really lucky on heels of bread

You’re teasing us.

Am I

      for that matter they couldnt take peanut butter or any nut butter sandwiches for school lunches because some kids had allergic reactionsviolent reactions to nuts

Youre freakin kiddin me he said to his daughter Thats why children take their own lunches to school

Dad, you never swapped your lunch for another kid’s lunch when you were in school?

Sure I did But if I knew I had a allergic reaction I wasnt so stupid to swap a lunch for a lunch that would make me sick How much pandering do children need  protection Wha because they havent sense enough or intelligence enough to know what will hurt them Who wipes their ass Who ties their shoelaces Kahrist

Dad.  The school’s . .

. . The schools liable The schools liable because a parent or parents havent informed their child suchansuch makes them sick

They’re only children, Dad.

I was You were Look Were both hereHowd that happen Yawanna tell me Keep the chaff with wheat No winnowing  Its fiber  fibers good for us

his daughter looked at him  concerned  slightly humour  she better not let condescension show  

Yaknow I cant believe I remember this It must have made an impression on me Matthew somechapterverse excuse me if I screw it up paraphrase it badly Fan winnowing fork in hand He will thoroughly purgeI really remembered that word purge its aggressive violent he will purge his crop he will gather his wheat and he will burn up his chaff with you want violence he will burn up his chaff with unquenchable fire

Unquenchable fire

I might suppose I ferreted and read all the steamy parts the sex and violent parts But I couldnt buy into it at all Pissed my parents offNo not parents  my Maw 

My point is an thank you for allowing me to labour as a child I was informed by my parentsyou were informed  I wouldnt knowingly put a gun in my mouth play Russian Roulette Wheres their sense of self an selfpreservation Animals have that An we animals have bigger brains than other animal species For the most part

he was tempted to bring Skippy Super Chunky peanut butter when he visited for a weekend but like a good ex-Catholic he defied his temptation

all his grandchildrens friends and he asked it was a point on contention all their friends wouldnt eat chucky peanut butter if it was the only peanut butter to be eaten they all wanted creamy peanut butter it wasnt that they preferred it they would only eat smooth peanut butter

                                               and none of the better than two dozen kids he canvassed much to his grandchildrens chagrin Stop, Grandpa, please stop. none of them had an allergy to peanuts none of them could imagine not eating peanut butter and the other butters

he hadnt a clue there were other butters 

seemed to him to be on par with licorice 

red licorice isnt licorice

black licorice is licorice

red licorice has no licorice in it

strawberry grape watermelon cherry chocolate licorice  arent licorice either

he heard a giggle behind him at the trash and recycle cans in the kitchen

he turned in his chair

it was his youngest grandchild a little girl 

she held a limp plastic bag weighted by sourdough heels over the trash

Yaint that cute lil one Throw it away an immediately afterwards youre following it head first

I’m teasing, Grandpa.

Im not

0700-ish,  Wednesday,  16  10. 19

1247,  Reggae Friday,  17  4. 20

Richard Hell and the Voidoids  I Belong to the Blank Generation  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL0gicJZKBs 

Matthew 3:12   

It’s a Good Life 

Twilight Zone

Rod Sterling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBqTbiFGkmo

the Twilight Zone found a roost

                                 recognisedthen the petulant president a manchild more child than man a mewling  demanding  footstomping crybaby

1418,  Thursday,  16  4. 20

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/trump-philip-roth/

Gimme a C

entered the Bat Cave  mebbe they shouldnt have

Maw Earth is sickantired of being mauled  and pillaged   and raped   her children abused and murdered

I’ve had it, now they can have it. 

It’s all yours, people, run with it.

                                        Gimme a C!   Gimme an O!

1306,  Thursday,  16  4. 20

https://www.democracynow.org/2020/4/16/peter_daszak_coronavirus?utm_source=Democracy+Now%21&utm_campaign=5b85440b98-Daily_Digest_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fa2346a853-5b85440b98-192501705

sociopath-in-chief

his girlfriend texted him  she was frightened  she suffers an autoimmune disease  ironically shes been taking plaquenil for years

she was frightened by his threats that was an innarestin perspective  threats  he wondered how the president would respond as a private citizen with a serious preesisting condition to a threat against his life  he knew Daddy kept him out of Nam five times  another Bush another Romney still hasnt produced the x-rays which would exonerate him  because he cant  he must miss Daddy  and Cohn an awful lot  she was frightened by his threatthe presidents threat the sociopath-in-chiefs threat to open the country  against her life

they lived in a Red district in California  they were Blue 

she worked for County

the County CAO is a real twist  James something-or-otherhe should know this  Maisy stuck in his head  Maisywho  James is casually letting slip  through the grapevine as it were  that he intends to reopen County for service when the president asks   James is a devotee  
                                       and James was also one of the first who went missing from the office when it was apparent coronavirus was going mainstream  he had outside business to attend

he texted her  : :  He can say what he likes  Newsom aint opening Californiahe aint budging  Hes laid out a six-point criteria that has to be met first  

We aint even close. 

The only thing the president is opening May1 is a tube of K-Y Jelly. I understand he has peculiar tastes

he texted her again immediately thereafter  : :  Dont put the cart before the horse, babe. Three Midwestern states: ND  NE  IA  their governors failed to issue Shelter-in-Place orders  they are Americas newest coronavirus hotspots  Pig factories involved, possibly threatening the food supply

We're a long way off from going anywhere

1914,  Wednesday,  15  4. 20  Once Upon a Time Tax Day

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-s-coronavirus-reopening-Gov-Gavin-15200205.php
Etta James  I’d Rather Go Blind  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9sq3ME0JHQ         

WWE are essential

                     No  not you     WWE

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis believes so   Duh yet another quid pro quo

0038, Thursday,  16 4.20

https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/-rancid-case-of-quid-pro-quo-florida-governor-under-fire-for-declaring-wwe-essential-82101829539

Lets get the Death Show on the road

Yes headline  Should have happened yesterday: Republicans press Trump to restart economy

now  he couldnt help but wonder if the Red loudmouths pressed before or after South Dakota Nebraska and Iowa  by the byeBuhbye Republican governors all  discoveredsuddenly their states were bitchslapped by the sneaky Invisible asymptomatic coronavirus 

                              it is worthwhile noting that reporting cited two infected pork factories 

Smithfield  Sioux City South Dakota  Governor Kristi Noem Take a bow!  518 employees tested positive and infected 126 non-employees  and where did these 644 disperse  

                                                           there are competing Biblical verses he was considering  Genesis genushuh geniushuh 9:7  But as for you, be fruitful and multiply, spread out over the earth and multiply on it Genesis 28:14  And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread it out . .procreation

then theres the 166 employees at Louisa County Iowas Tyson pork factory You can stand up Governor Kim Reynolds!

he always believed that women were the brightest of the specieswere smarter than men  however  evidently  Republican women were the exception

then of course theres Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts got rickets? an unfortunate name who he expected to be dumb because hes a man a Republican but also because hes white and entitled Nebraskas Grand Island ICUs are filling up and having to disperse their coronavirus patients elsewhere for relief

                                                                                  the real jawdropper there however is the reopening of the Nebraska Crossing Mall The first to reopen during the pandemic! Theres some pridehuh some real pornpanting  Fingers crossed that Governor Ricketts can be there for the ribbon-cutting  perhaps the throat-cutting

these Republican states have no Shelter-in-Place orders

                                                           if states whose population per square mile are small and are feeling goodfeeling their oats about being free he couldnt help but wonder how theyll feel when theyve been familiarly depopulated  with no one else to blame but themselves because they listened to the yammerings of their elected servants  the president of the United States and his Congressional Republicans who aid and abet him

truly they have no skin in the game only their political hides which they change out of like shabby clothes when the times comes to more along  WITHOUT accountably   

he couldnt say for sure because infection rates and deaths rates are pure numbers racial disparity seemingly is either an afterthought not reported or excised  it is hard not to imagine that the affected meat factories employed majority-minorities or that the powers-that-be in those states the corporate bigwigs of those companies might be okay with minority deaths

The Chicago TribuneChi-Town however is shining the light on that horrific truth

this is America

                 fat manthe clown in the center ring tweets  Once we OPEN UP OUR GREAT COUNTRY, and it will be sooner than later, the horror of the Invisible Enemy, except for those that sadly lost a family member or friend, must be quickly forgotten . . ASSHOLE  Our Economy will BOOM, perhaps like never before!!! he couldnt remember the last time he used three consecutive exclamation points 

1603,  Day-between-Two-Ts,  15  4. 29

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/15/republicans-trump-economy-coronavirus-186452 

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/covid-19-outbreaks-in-upper-midwest-show-virus-is-not-just-a-new-york-problem-82056261754
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/data-shows-shocking-racial-disparity-in-coronavirus-cases-81814085754  https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2020/04/15/iowa-governor-cdc-usda-assistance-coronavirus-outbreaks-meatpacking-plants-tyson-foods/5137200002/

whenever he opened Touch the Earth he found himself looking among the circa photographs for the sepiacoloured one of a Flathead child

                  he read it in ’71 owned a First Edition bought it with money he earned from his paper route a penny a paper

the image arrested him then it arrests him every time he looks at it he gazes  he tries to feel the heat of the sun smell the woods smell  more than onehundred years earlier

Yes he idealises  he is fascinated

the child is in doeskin fringed beaded a moccasined right foot on a tree root growing in a grassy field growing well-behind the child and the tree out of focus are a grove of similar trees mates  which made him curious how the tree beside the boy had grown up so far away from the others

                                                            he had a sneaking suspicion that would never be quelled

he grew upmatured far away from his parents his ten brothers and sistershis family  sympathetic though uninvolved  it suited him  he figured it suited them

it wasnt discussed

the child wore a squat feathered headdress  appearing crownlike  stiff feathers straight up

around their neck hung a fourstrand necklace of shell and beads stones and from it hung what appeared to be a sandscrubbed white shell its concave face turned out and inside it a delicate strand of beads that halfway down was intersected and sided by two large molten beads shaped like freshwater pearls that shook him with unexpected frisson

the childs fringesleeved tunic was belted at the waist what the belt was made of he couldnt say it was out of focus

wasnt an Indians soul stole by a photograph  if he ever met a celebrity craving the spotlight or limelight hed ask

what brought him to this image every time he opened the bookwhat captivated him seeing it every time was the childs aura  exuding from their chest 

                                 asif viewed a perfect circle through imperfect glass  drifting to haze

the child is androgynous

each  sex  beckoned him

breathtaking

a romantic  he suspected

1224,  Monday,  14  10. 19

1156,  Day-between-Two-Ts,  15  4. 20

Elton John  Indian Sunset  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qd08FyXY3E