Friends & Neighbors
Hide & Seek
I was never good at hide & seek because I’d always make enough noise so my friends would be sure to find me. I don’t have anyone to play those games with any more, but now & then I make enough noise just in case someone is still looking & hasn’t found me yet.
High Places
He carried a ladder almost everywhere he went
& after awhile people left all the high places to him.
High Tolerance
What are you good at? I said
& she said, Mainly life.
I work best with stuff
that has a high tolerance
for mistakes.
Her Laughter
The first time her laughter unfurled its wings in the wind, we knew that the world would never be the same.
Hawaiian Shirts
I have seen him in Hawaiian shirts, she said, so there is nothing hidden between us
Heading South
They drove south one winter until they could stand outside with no coats on & we never saw them again.
Half Alive
You can have a plain hot dog if you want, he said, but until you’ve had a real polish sausage you’re only half alive. I decided there were worse things & I was only ten & could correct the serious mistakes later & the plain dog tasted just fine, even being half alive & all.
Halloween
I heard that the big kids soaped the windows on Halloween & all we had was a box of Tide & I couldn’t reach the windows anyway, so I poured a big pile of it on the neighbor’s doorstep & I never figured out how my mom knew it was me until we had kids.
Handy Fact
why aren’t people dogs? he said & I said because we can pick up newspapers with our hands & that made sense to him.
Future Things #1
Things to know about the future. #1: It doesn’t have to look any particular way, but around here, if it doesn’t, a lot of people will never speak to you again
Free Food
Do you know all these people? she whispered to me & I said no, they’re just here for the free food & she said, But it’s only a dream & I said, I know. That’s why I can afford to do it.
Free Will
That’s the thing about free will, he told us. You can drag me along, but there’s no way in hell you can make me have fun.
Front Porch
My grandpa used to tell us about a man who had 3 heads who lived in his town & he was always in the kitchen frying something or other & even though it smelled like chicken it was really the bones of children. He was awake every time I saw him, my grandpa said, even late at night & we decided maybe he had 3 or 4 jobs but that’s what you need with so many mouths to feed & then my grandma would make us come in & watch educational television for our own good.
Fortune Teller
Every summer we had a circus & I always got to be the fortune teller. All the girls wanted to know if they’d have babies & all the boys wanted to find out about the Cubs. We had one neighbor who’d been in the hospital who asked me if I could tell her when she was going to die & I didn’t know what to say so I told her not before her time & then she grabbed my arm & said I was a good boy but that’s not what the doctors said & there I was looking in the crystal ball wishing I had more Gypsy and less Norwegian.
Free Country (aka Confusing World)
Why is the world so confusing? he said & I said it’s only confusing if you believe it has to make sense & he looked at me & shook his head.
I can’t believe they let just anyone have children, he said.
Flight
I knew a man in college who grew up in the inner city of Chicago & what he was doing in Iowa I never did figure out. But whenever he would see a jet trailing across the sky, he would stop everything he was doing & he would watch. Once, after a jet was gone & there was nothing left but the white line disappearing like a scar into the blue, he turned to me & said, An airplane is a miracle & I didn’t give it much thought, but now & then, when I am ready to give up hope for human beings in general, & for one or two of them who are bugging me specifically, I will look to the sky & there will be one of those miracles & I will remember it’s all about concentrating on the right thing.
Excuse
I don’t really like dogs, my uncle told me once, but it’s a good way to keep up with what’s going on in the neighborhood.
Enough Time (Feminine)
Everything changed the day she figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in her life.
Enough Time (No Gender)
Everything changed the day I figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in my life.
Distinguished
You’re lucky, she said. You’ll only get more distinguished as you get older.