27 may 1996

27 may, 1996

wake up with the public interest lawyer
I slept pretty well for a floor
cushion under my ass so I din't brooze my hips
morning e-mail check and patter
I think we entertained her in payment
wilson, though he may not always listen, he sure is funny.
we pledge a healthy breakfast, but the place is closed
so we roll into the majestic diner
serving fantastic food since 1929
means eggs hash pancakes, with low chol non-dairy spread,
they didn't even have butter for the request
strange, looks like a place I might have chained myself to if I was around protesting in the mid-sixties

after project drive wil paranoia we arrive at atlanta terminal
quite active and packed diverse
we take turns watching my stuff while we take turns boweling
wil leaves me with army folks
rob pickering takes a picture of me, computing
"we're novelty to each other" he recognizes

he's in the signal corps, "like the AT&T of the armed forces"
monitors have the flintstones film on repeat
faster paced theme song sung to disguise drag-lame plot
pissed off, wil pulls hte machine crank, ends up with salem lights
I leave on the side of a trashcan, no one picks them up

editing pictures on the fly seconds before bus departure
hispanic man watches over my shoulder -
one way to make accessable technology is to I do what I do and folks watch
but sadly little time to explain or turn over
eye catching brief moments with another youth -lady
maria
has a seat open next to her on the bus out
why not?
from boston, eighteen years
living in virginia beach, working in a convenience store
soon comes out she's going to san anton, goin' visit her boyfriend
almost relieving
and educational! in opelaka she observes that the large roofs and big porches came from africa
and she's always pointing out the vines
a subversive kind of foliage
18 years old, she shares some home cookin' vegetable pasta
we exchange strange cooking stories
she ate goat ball soup from the west indes
her mom got her to try it before she'd say what it was
she's always doin' that.
got off the bus, took a picture in tuskogee
hard to make out the heat

she's a virgo/leo cusp
laughs easily, long fingers
fairly wide space between her eyes
sittin' in another seat to sleep,
rolled over, broke my glasses
got a backup pair of older
but disturbed, can't rest,
making daze pages - man this camera adds its own hours.
now in atlanta, I got me a ticket all the way to new orleans.
but I ain't never been to alabama, and since this ticket takes me through montgomery and mobile, maybe I would get off.
now all this time I been decidin',
in the station, I called my mama's friend besty (who steered me stright in ireland)
she said mobile was beautiful, she has family there
so when that bus rolled into mobile, long 'bout seven o'clock,
I decided to get off.
I put my bag on my back
a young black feller with thick glasses and a thick tongue told me I could walk down government avenue and I would land in the center of town
so I started walkin'
wasn't long before I noticed folks starin' some
one guy pulled up in his camarah, looked me over,
he musta thought I was a woman,
cuz he invited me for a ride
but when I opened my mouth, he heard my voice and he sneered some and took off
billie was much kinder to me
see, government is kinda a long strip
I was walkin' for some time before I hit sidewalks, you know
so when I seen this dude, with like pantyhose on his head or some shit
he was standing by the side of the side-walk
I got some nervous, see, cuz I hadn't run into any mobilians walkin' yet
this was in a black part of town, I guess
cuz billie was black, and everybody that drove by was black
things was kinda run down
I didn't feel too weird about that one way or the other
besides, billie was dressed funny
wearin' a yellow and red flaming patterned shorts and button short sleeved combo
anyways billie and I greet each other how dee doo and pleased to meet you
see he's a traveller too, always got his backpack ready to go
you fittin' get tired of me, I'll grab my pack and go
ain't goin' stay an' mess aroun' now
see he'd been out there like me
you know, got your life on your back, always movin'
been to altanta that way, chicago,
I like it here alright
my woman just about tired of me
ain't got no job
I'm goin' stick with it til it's time to move
and when it's over I'm gone
don't bother me none
but folks will bother you, they bother us
they rather pick on us than the rich cuz wey easy
look, jes remember, always
<chich, some tongue lip sucking noise in his semi-flappy alcohol-dilapidated lips and pocked-cheeks
as he points thumb back over his shoulder>
always watch your back now
you know, be lookin' over your shoulder
he's been beaten up
why you gots to fuck with me
he looks genuinely wounded
shit, I ain't got nuthin!
genuinely weepy
cantcheh spare me nuthin
some dime or somethin?
wispering
cuz I'm real hungry, ain't had nothin to eat for days
hands cupped, truly sorrowful
breaks into laughter
cuz that's how it is
you gots to make it work
how long you been at this?
'bout a week and a half
eyebrows, incredulous
shih. you young, you got a lot to learn
well, just remember;
starts counting off on his fingers always chich, watch your back
pantomime - sorrow face, hands cupped can you, can you help me out sir?
one guy, he took me in
I got me a job that way, workin' construction
couldn't hold that job
now I got this place
gestures to the house on the corner
with my ol lady
$150 a month
billie, I think I got to get a move on, before it gets dark
mind if I take your picture?
naw, I don't want that
lookin', you got to get on your way
we slapshake again
watch your back
yeah, take it easy
watch your back now
remember, billie sez, watch your back
not even a half mile from billie's place starts mansion row
proud old opulence
on foot, in the windows seen lace and crystal and wood and jefferson davis to tea
but better are the abandoned, the old and unkempt
charming dilapidation by descending twilight
empty southern monumental mansions inspire hideout or at least breakin fantasies
I mean all that abandoned property and me just needing a place for me head
not even - maybe I'll sleep outside, one of these gardens
or just an econotel
but then not - I want to live by my wits
walk into town blisters and fears of reprisal freque
in the most airconditioned downtown lodgings
competely empty - couches and space galor
the counter ladies recommend dauphin street
I trade their advice for my henry V memory
they had never heard that dauphin is french for prince.
dauphin is mobilian for good times
some french architecture, a fair load of neon
many bargrills - this is the good times
on memorial day, quite reserved - most places closed or quiet
done seen what a mobilian gay bar "gabriels" looks like side street
can't see too well from the picture, mebbe that's the point
I stop at kahuna's
sports bar, oh yeah
eight folks, four televisions
immediately joked at/with by a feller beard friendly face somehow duck like
flourescent green disposable baseball cap
he's watching hockey, soon meet him louie and a young scott on the other side
how to describe the dialog rather his most compelling manner of speaking
comprised of stringing together the most homey pithin's
always teetering on unfinished but always dammit somehow wrapping that shit up I mean

when the fuckin' shit caves in, if you're going to the machine with your plastic card and try to get some money while I'm sitting on my fuckin' farm with a load of krugerrand and twelve shotguns well then well just see who's the fuckin' happy pigger then
I'll tell you man, those investments don't mean shit I'm sayin' that what you should be buying is lots of old trucks I mean from back when shit used to work and the fuckin' shit you need to know is how to put shit together man
that's why the fuckin' engineers are going to be running the planet when all the computers crash man, you see what I'm sayin? cuz if I can fix myself up a means of transport away from the goddam cities, where the fuckin' niggers and the spics will be running the show
you certainly don't want to have to fuckin' turn to the krauts for your fuckin' dough, or repairs when the dollar isn't worth more than rolling paper
we saw what happened with the fuckin' germans man, they were outta there last year in the eighties it was mister helmut kohl we're going to sell you a bullshit piece of our debt yes sir thank you very much sir and you'd have the head of the bundesbank on national television sucking your dick
now man they won't even touch that they say we know better than to buy any piece of that anymore
he knew geopolitics, I'd hear obscure officials I knew only from my public radio junkie days, interspersed with creative word flanges and fuck 'ems
a lot of independent espousement
basically, buy old shit that can be fixed, learn to fix it, and get the hell away from everyone
like his friends who live up in granite falls, in washington state
they've got maps of all the mormons so when the shit goes down it's first we kill the mormons, second we take all their food
yeah, cuz it's like their religious law they have to store a year's worth of food!
scott and I, he's moved over next to me largely, ovbiously doesn't feel too communicativating with louie there - we're just mostly listen in astonishment
to this man with a house in the phillipines to funkdify his taxes, a deep history in seattle,
but hey, man, if I need a place tonight, I can crash with scott

we'll return to louie's hotel, he's all prepped for a merchant marining
you make web pages? our union's fixin' to make a web page. where you headed next? new orleans? got a place to stay? lemme call my friend charlie, and tell 'im you're coming.
at scott's a little seattle is smoked
it makes things not much weirder but I am a little growing paranoid about all my equipment and scott's grrowing admiration thereof
covetousness
and then I remember eudora welty's good county people story
- realizing fear of bible salesman, and then transfer that into personal strength that doesn't preclude interaction
trust in god but tie your camel
unpredictable's the worst
letting go of fear
death or what?
I'm sitting in this guy's house.
louie tales of phillipines knife fighting balisong fighting technique and actual twelve foot lunging demonstrations
he's got an army narcotics officer ID card, carte blanche
reciting tales of japanese pre-WWII asia gold theft pileup and ferdinand marcos theft
involved stories, scott's drifting, I'm enthralled
from Sterling Seagrave's books, Tung Dynasty and the Marcos Dynasty
conspiracy theories of the wealth of hidden asia secreted beneath blown mount pinatubo
and george bush screwed the merchant marines in the gulf war, used dansk shipping, the bush family owns some part of
built huge refrigerated warehouses in saudi arabia for literal pork barrel, some southern senator unloaded three warehouses full of his local pork, it's still sitting in that muslim country today.
anyways, he's got to get to bed for to apply early morning for a government goat fuck
- working as first or second engineer on a big tanker
paid for by the defense department - keep the ship ready to move troops.
so basically, a five year harbor assignment
he'll always be working, fixing, repairing
perhaps in the port of new orleans
I'm ready for bed
scott feels a bit biblical
self-crimination and religuilt
he's got to wake up early for drafting work though
I first sleep with my powerbook under my head
like I'm at a youth hostel or something
then curse my stupidity - I'm in this guy's home.

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