28 may 1996

28 may, 1996

I've got faith
uh!
faith!
weow!
uh, woah, damn, alabama.
damn faith. wew! yeow! sheeet.

so I like woke up six hours later, feeling dry and over blown by the aircon
he gave me the bible he promised me last night
was glad I remembered to ask
we left his house after some fuddles and marlboros (no thanks)
to the steak and egg kitchen
a site of belly bombs if e'er there were one
so we chat, the bible, somewhere between worrying about his sin wages and redemption striving made me restless
to flip flop the pavement back up government to the greyhound a noon bus to new orleans
man this was a stop, this mobile - one night, man
so anyways, we like um, uh
so I reach this park
after I didn't take a picture of this white whiskered nosehairs elderly peanut salesman
lord I chilled in that park
did some tai chi
pull ups, sit ups, step ups on government provided jogger equipment

sat on a bench
threw the i ching from my necklace -
what of today?
number 28:
predominance of the great
withdrawl, bending, timing, core, "profitable to go somewhere"
darryl takes a picture of me, I watch the police tactical training, urinate on an army corps of engineers palm tree
and hit back that road already so worn weary arm strength sapped but just walking past the food world, where maybe I'll come back to pick up some, food, well
this little brown two door stops and more than redneck harassement is a young lady, a young lady opens the door and asks if I need a ride anywhere
it's like divine providence
arrival in heaven sent arms of an angel
really, I only had five blocks worth more to walk
but I climbed in, love a ride to the greyhound
what times my bus? hours away. time for anything
really - I'll give her as much slack as she'll take me to eat
chirpy voice, taco bell, or wendy's?
I notice hunter thompson bio and nabokov on the floor
so without words or assumptions or explanations, I'm explaining I'm travellin', new orleans bound, been here 'bout twenty hours
she's in community college studying to be a journalist, just 18 years old
sitting outside, we are the first inside taco bell at ten am, she buys me a bean burrito
I show her a photo on my powerbook posted
she tries to put a concrete blonde rehashed blues song she's got in her head into mine
do I play anything? I sing, like paul robeson and a song from patience, bunthorne's bride - heavy dragoon
fast patter like this, the first verse:
the pluck of lord nelson on board of the victory genius of bismark devising a plan the humour of fielding which sounds contradictory coolness of paget about to trepan the science of julian the eminient musico wit of mccauley who wrote of queen anne the pathos of patty as rendered by busico style of the bishop of sodor and man a dash of d'orsay divested of quakery narrative powers of dickens and thackeray victor emmanuel peak hunting peveril thomas acquinas and doctor sesheverel tupper and tennyson daniel defoe anthony trollope and mister guizot aaaaa! take of these elements all that is fusible, melt them all down in a pipkin or crucible set them to simmer and take off the scum and a heavy dragoon is the residuum.
anyways, she was impressed with the memory, had me rerecite it so she could copy it all down
didn't really know all the spellings or foreign heroes but she was gustoriffic
really just so enthused, bright eyed
some makeup, lips red and eyelashes pert, perhaps covering up her acne
short red dyed and cropped softly suffering hair - a white strand off the top of her head, from red
i didn't pick you up cuz of your hair, but your colours
bad guys wear black.
you ever been to magnolia cemetery?
I've never been in an accident with anyone else in the car before
when i'm alone, I drive like I'm in a nintendo game
like with little noises? yeah, and real fast, quick
driving through the cemetery, and out
she walks all over graves without regard

my superstition memory from westminster visit was never walk on the body-place beneath around a headstone
she traipses bold nieve
and tells stories extended by their extemporaneous distraction she was delight to behold always moving playing toying smiling looking and distracted

reminded me of sonic
almost pure energy.

I love that shit.
easy to be cowed, I found myself sitting down as she stood over me talking
nonstop tales of 16 hour pentacostal services and confiscated rolls of film and earth first protestors in local jail
she's got crazy force - I already miss her
the grass was dry, ominous clouds hung thundering in the distance
no low sun, heat and a cool breeze
I was going to teach her how to web page but we ran out of time listening
we pulled into the bus terminal exchanging stories until the bus, leaving just then
the bus driver said I had time for a goodbye
and proceeded to back up with the door open honking
I wrote down my address and gave her a hug
she did not look back or at me for very long, strode to the doors for more ahead true bold.

and now the trees to new orleans ain't so tall - swamp, like rivers that don't begin or ends, weird shit growin' in and out of 'em - swamp
what is progress but proliferation
whatever about travel purpose - I'm not taking this trip, this trip is taking me.
thank you greyhound for so often taking me through just six feet over the sadder parts of town than such remote airports and highfly aeroplane.
this is a big city
casino and covenant house adjacent
lots of black folks livin' in semi-squalor whole country round

this is a theme I'm goin' to develop moreover,
but I'm runnin' into spirituality is everywhere
faith's friends magic and karma
peter and ephedra and now this next guy I'm roomin' with
charlie picks me up in a bronco at the bus terminal
how long you known louie? he asks
I met him last night in a bar
charlie's never met him.
charlie's living in nick's house
nick's been involved with the merchant marine union
so's lou
nick's house has two dogs, used to be strays
roof immediately
when I near one legs shake
it pees from fear
charlie has been a golf pro, amongst other things
on tv, videos, books, pamphlets, teaching chet akins
recently he's into the enneagram
numerology and sufism to improve your golf swing
for about the last month, since movin' in with nick's
he's been studyin' the net, surfin' the heck out of that thing with his 486
smokin' more than one pack of marlboro reds daily while
like the enneagram, this internet nonlinear thought reflective
what's going to happen with the advent of commerce?
much netpontification consideration

I left for
burbon street

alone, cameraless.
travelled first with marcus trash collector
coming home after twelve hours work
with a few bags of flea salable loot
one time, he was outta cash,
he saw this one bag sticking out from the rest
stuck his hand in an' pulled out $30
I smelled de muhney!
even the buses in new orleans are a party
the seats colours purple trim, green flourescent highlighted cushions

arrived alone amidst the neon and hell of cheap drinks and sex shows
narrow carless streets, gas lamp flames onlookers from balconies infinite t-shirt shops
I sauntered some, because it was hot, because even black folk gawked at my hair
how much money you got? three dollars.
stopped by a hotel paid a phone call to howard, talked to maime
reached out for george alec effinger local, see if he wanted to party - no answer
walked near the length of burbon street fore I came to a stoop
with a midsome latina with a jutting jaw seated low asks how I get my hair to stand up
behind her some blue eyed leatherfaced eagle haired cowboy hat wearing beefheart voiced old gargoyle pipes up with occasional scripture, and soon some drug refernces shit, he's been on this street for years.
used to have hundreds of people comin' over to th' house over there, hundreds of folks that only slept on the weekends! we were doin' f-somethin-amine, it used to be legal. you could get it prescribed if you's was 70 pounds overweight, I used to take fat girls in to see this one doctor - we helped him retire with a 250,000 dollar boat
what's that toolbelt she asks, I show her my notebook
we're flirting with each other, I'm being witty she's probing and he's citing the bible
she adjusts her chest, I notice a flashy purple bra
can you speak in toungues he asks me
I answer him appropriately and sez if I had the holy spirit right I would never have stopped, never do anythng else
I was hungry, that's why I came down this far, know of any good places to eat? come on, he rose his bulk, I'll buy you guys some oysters.
sauntering down the street back was fun, now allied with a black suited latina and an outrageous post-peak cowboy who growls an invitation to an alternative chick
we land at his favourite place felix's - they know me here he sez
they don't but they will
I think we ate up four or five dozens of raw shell dwellers
meanwhile he gets rollin'
broad tones in gruff voice the entire established audience now guffawing waiters and oyster shuckers
so his first fuckin' girlfriend, his fuckin' wife he married her around my age, three days after he met her
the song 99 4/100% pure written about her
she was big into psychic power
convinced him to go to the track, won a whole shitload of money together throughout the season, then split on the last day
came back, when he was studiying with his mentor, pappy
you see pappy was in world war two. god gave him healing power cuz he needed it back then. he knew all the special prayers
he could make blood flow backwards!, he was patrolling sunset strip, bring folks with big gashes in their arms to pappy, injured basketball players being brought by for emergency healing and he could make their injuries disappear
anyways she came when after pappy had died, he had recieved whoa! his energy.
she came back to try to steal some from him.

why christianity? I've seen psychics do good work.
yeah right. they project onto you, decide what problem they want you to have but there's always god in the way, always god between you
hey! let me tell you! I arrived in town some black dudes broke into my van, wiped the walls with chicken blood and all that shit
I felt the holy ghost said, you know how much that means to us? yeah right!
look I was out on the street [burbon] partying staying up all night on those pills
my friend crazy tex passed out
this voodoo woman comes over, runs up hits him on the head with a bottle o' red wine and takes off!
I chased after her, grabbed her broom and just started runnin'. I had the holy spirit in me! (wide eyes, believe me! staggered feet arms wide, pumping action)
I ran towards the river, you know where there are those five pillars? I jumped over them - phew! pow!, I was jumpin thirty, fourty feet in the air poah! and I threw that broom in the watter and it hit the surface pah! and the water started circlin' round it zzziew and then it fewm! it was gone, the holy spirit took it.
security guards came out saying what the heck was that!
it's true! it happened!
like he knew this girl, her sister was a hooker. her pimp wanted her to whore for him but she wouldn't, you know. so he slapped her in the face, gave her a black eye
holy spirit directed, he tracked her down in a titty bar, prayed with her and lifted her spirits
she got on stage to dance, looked around in all those mirrors, seen her black eye had disappeared!

pointing at my i ching necklace
take off them things, and we'll go ouside and have a prayer, a real simple prayer pappy taught me, you tell me your name and we shake hands.
I took 'em off,
where are you going monica ax?
we'll be back in a minute.

outside felix's, hands clasped, what's your name? justin. justin hall
i'm joel hill
I tried so hard to clear my head as he begins asking jesus to absolve my sins, my great faults, my strays from the path, I am open, and nirrrica nurrrrong biripa hoesden nirr
my toungue speak is more abrupt disjointed directed punchy
let it flow he sez
that was a powerful prayer, he sez, I could feel something happenin.
back inside, what about the i ching?
shit we used to throw that thing all the time - it could predict dead on!
we could tell when people were going to be arrested and for what
but that was before people's souls were at risk
I was in nashville, with my new cadillac. that's when they called me cadillac ron.
anyways, these three dudes come up on my while I'm loading up my car, with all my stuff you know
so he deflects and axe blow so it only nicks him in the head, runs out in traffic helped to a hospital
so I've got these stitches in the side of my head, right more than 33 and they stop counting
I'm at home, I turn on the TV it's on the christian channel - I'm like I'd better change this
benny hinn is on he's doin' a faith healing
and all of a sudden he sez
wait! there's someone with a head injury! he's watching the tv with a bandage round his head! say a prayer for the holy spirit and let him be healed!
well I went into the hospital a few days later, the nurse was taking the stitches out of my hand, she thought my head injury was from a different event, she said - those stiches are ready to come out
so she's takin' 'em out, and the doctor that put 'em in walks by, and hits the floor - he couldn't believe it! he'd never seen anything like it!
I'll tell you I was hurtin' so much I thought I was going to die
after some holy spirit intervention
he passed the largest kidney stone ever through his urinary tract at oral roberts city of hope hospital - 3.5 centimeters
he was quite literally a holy roller
played blues piano on burbon street with walter washington
each page I ripped out of the front of this [pocket new testament and psalms] I've used to roll a joint.
how can you still smoke and drink with jesus?
everybody's got a different path.
well then how can you priviledge christianity? the lord is there for you. it's in the bible.
everything I've read in this book [pulls worn pocket new test and psalms] has been truth - open it up and try to prove me wrong.
so you believe this whole bible thing? didn't men write it?
they were taken with the holy spirit!
justin's seen the holy spirit all over the place! what do you think about the grateful dead? they got spirit!
the grateful dead ain't got the spirit, they got a spirit. I went to some of them shows, in like '68, when the shit was happenin'. I seen these kids dancin', lost in their own world.
what about jimi hendrix?
I met jimi hendrix!
didn't he have the spirit? I don't know 'bout jimi hendrix. he's a wild one.
it was at like [some famous concert] in like '69 or '70, I was backstage cuz my friend [?] was borrowing my organ for his show
this long white limo pulls up everybody knows it's jeemi! you know? so he like comes out, you know, and this fuckin' chick, one of those groupie chicks she's got like a bucket of KFC she offers him some chicken
well he's like trippin' on all this acid, right? and he don't want no chicken
so he like grabs the lid offa this chicken bucket and throws it phfew!< br> and I grab it and toss it back at him phfah! he leaps out to grab it, sails out on the stage, fifteen thousand folks go waaaahhh! cuz it's jeemi!
man he was a bad ass.

some confusion, monica and I thought he was talkin' 'bout tossin' round a piece of chicken.
what about sex?
been celibate for four and a half years.
by choice?
holy spirit!
felix's done been listenin' to us this time
monica nor I ain't gettin' much stories in edgewise he's done bought us food, and now cheep beer
he moves his old bulk slower and slower with his imbibements
he offered me to accompany him, but I proferred cranberry juice.
roll back down burbon
monica's donned his cowboy hat
he visits storefronts that sell nothing but booze
buys me a big big tall plastic cup thereof
I promptly give it away to a beeseeching brother
he finishes his and tosses it on the ground
I pick up his cup after him - some spirituality.
we mosey to the funky pirate
fat al carson and the bluesmasters are greatest hitsin' it
we do some shimmy, buy some booze
he pulls monica in to dance with him
his slow lurch with the bare blues
every once a while deep dip
me I'm shakin' fast solo
I see her lookin' back over her shoulder smilin' me now then
I won't play that too much - he's too invested
he's hootin' hollerin' to keep up with the band
they think he's funny
what's your name? security guard
they call me crazy david.
some cute lesbians we were chatting with
just moved down to new orleans from michigan
they leave for "the dungeon"
the band's bailed so we follow
into louded harsher music, devilry on the walls
david ain't righteous about it
more of the same dancin'
me solo, them together
I dance with monica then and again, nothin' crazy
but david, he comes over
I'm barely flirting with these two lesbians he comes over and sez
I think she's going home with me
the evenin's windin' down so I'm gonna
wish them two goodbye, three am
she's been wearing his cowboy hat for hours
he borrows it for a moment to remove a metal band surrounding
returns it to her head, stands heads for the door stairs
one doleful look on the way down sees her head turned lookin' me
I never seen him again.
he wanted monica to come travel the country on his truck with him
what happened to celibacy?
a few minutes, dancing, where's he gone?
outside on the street searching
larry wants a minute to offer
cheap cocaine
monica wants ten dollars worth
gets a free snort instead
in the post-space left by the holy roller, I delve into her
35, just after a nine year relationship is liberated
got a boob job
dancing in her bra and panties at a non-burbon club,
migrated from soCal
we're to oz gay club little different
we smooch some
I have to get out of here
save myself
I'm burnt
outside, we are parting
the cops will arrest any streetside lingerers for vagrancy
she can't stop partying
has to find a place to sleep
I write a
Post Burbon smell of puke still neon lit instant blowjob offers from drunk gays the drunk straights are still dancing somewhere I won't go in Freak remnants - the young and bedraggled, bedecked - interracial mingling even fat people - I feel safer than I'm sposed to except near one night's trash diaster I feel wretched again.

well tipped taxi home at 345 is a dog disaster

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