we start with a greeting
hes doing whatever he does
on his drive full of cars
football shirt on
or not shirt at all
today its no shirt at all
i am taking out rubbish
i probably dump it
in the wrong bin
and we ask each other
if we are ok
and i will tentatively
approach the fence
keeping my options open
he will tell me something
about
the
weather / family / hospital visits
i will say something similar
which he will not notice
next he might tell me
something i told him
three months ago
but today its something almost new
its about the guy opposite today
who rides up and down the street
in electric mobility scooters
with his brothers
of an evening
now its lighter later
theyre men he says
theyre liable
i am laughing and tell him hes jealous
he will only notice
that i disagreed
and his head will not compute
and
he
will
escalate vaguely
the way stuff is today
i dont like it he says
dimly self aware
he has nothing
specific to say
this is going nowhere
so i ask him about
all the cars on the drive
my son-in-laws he says
they got parking charges now
in his street
i ask wheres that then ?
oh where he lives
he says in surprise
i think blimeyjesus
the way stuff is today . . .
he is saying
i diffuse him
before he brings up
the team of blockpavers
from months ago
who he assumes
are bulgarian
and that carjacked van
they had nothing to do with
i diffuse him
with a broad sweeping statement
of the nature of progress
its inherent temporariness
our fickle interpretation
and as i am loosing him
and as he doesnt listen to me anyway
i say
the more things change
the more they stay the same
a saying i mull over often
and he likes that
it has a ring to it
it sounds clever
and we sign off
with a joke
about supper
the kettle
afternoon naps
we both go in
and i dont have
to look at
his great hairy corfu brown belly
and his struggling childs eyes
anymore
or
those
small
growths
in his armpit
that look like
the legs of a tiny octopus
climbing
out
of
his
flesh
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