Monday, March 19, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
HomeYears, 3.5.2012. morning.
Made it back to the inland, the westside of the peninsula after chirpin' with the fellow flamingos down in miami. Friday night I rented some slick new jalopy out of a shady-busted up place, all dirty money and cheap smiles over there. Got the whip for real cheap, so I zoomed south on 75 right as the sun was sinking over the forested jungle green landscape of mainland florida. Real swampy and hot over there, had the windows down and some old rock tunes blastin' thru the windows. Still had Auntie and Dad's guilt ringin' thru my ears, they couldn't understand why i was leavin', why i wanted to see some old friends. they wanted to keep me there, i don't know what for. i couldn't handle the 3pm dinners and the snoozin' in front of the tv screen everynight. anyway, i got outta there with a grin on my face, singing at the top of my lungs for the 3hour drive, got to Davie, where i met my ol' boy JG and we hit the beach strip lookin' for some free booze and snacks. Had dinner at some swanky joint with real bad service and black-button-up-shirt waiters who usually just hung around the hostess out in front and kept the customers waiting waiting waiting like vultures for overpriced pizza and drinks. Anyway, our ol' gal Sandy Miami made a stop by, with her dark curls and red lipstick lookin' all cute and done up. We got those huge gallon size margaritas and got sauced pretty quick. Felt like a dream, the three of us there, laughin' and tellin' stories and talkin' about every which way, with all the babes in their night skirts and heels walkin' by and all the fellas with horrible tattoos and cigarettes dancing a drunken waltz down the strip. it was a moment all right. we slipped the check and split to the beach. the dark mouth of the gulf like some endless monster lapping for air, trying to bring us in, and turning back with the sand all cool on our feet and the half-moon hanging in between all the lights from the clubs and bars, the faint sound of cubana music bouncing beyond the sidewalk, it was a marvelous night. elegant winds blowing through us. and us three just sitting on the beach, all sauced up, just laughing laughing laughing.
The next day was real good too. woke up too early, i suppose i was too excited to keep still. i wandered around JG's apartment in the morning, went outside and just stood in the early morning sun with my eyes closed. If you stand in the sun down there long enough, you begin to feel like a tall glass of florida orange juice. that's the truth, but anytime before ten a.m. and be still. we had brunch at a little place that's real popular with the locals, i'd seen one before but never gone in, to be honest, i always thought it was a bank or something from the outside whenever i passed the one in downtown sarasota. we had coffee in tiny paper cups while we waited, JG and his roommate DoveDove, who i never really understood, such an interesting guy real quiet and seemed like he was always upset at something or tired, i suppose that's how it goes with all the young professionals, they got their heads slammed up in books all day when they step out in the world and feel the surge of life go through them they get uncomfortable with the strangeness of it all. I don't really know the guy, that probably ain't even close. So after that, me and JG met up with Sandy Miami in the downtown strip at some bar, where her cute colombian friend greeted us with kisses and ordered drinks at the bar with her friends. We left 'em, wandered slowly through this art festival, galleries of hundreds of artists' work, it was pretty busy. Inspiring too. i took the card of one painter whose work drew me back to my outlines. looking at his paintings was like tripping in the amazon again. once i get some money and a house of my own, i'm gonna look that guy up and put a great big picture of his in a room full of books and an easy chair, where i can just stare at that thing all day until the room starts spinning and i hear that music from heaven twirling through my head. we spent a few good hours there, then hit up the beach once we got real tired, and slept for a bit. we were stuck in traffic right downtown trying to get there and it was terribly packed but i didn't mind too much, though JG was driving and i felt bad he was just as tired as me, but i was hangin' my head out the window, drunk off the sun and tryin' to talk to the pretty babes walkin' by with their tanned bodies held up tight in their bikinis, it was such a pleasing sight for me. and the water and the wind and the sun and the smell from the restaurants and the faint waft of cigarettes and car exhaust and the music from cars comin' in altogether it was such a day to be alive, and i knew it right there right then, i was definitely alive and that was as certain as i'll ever be about that. the evening slowed down; we got some burritos and watched the college ball game back at JG's place until we won. JG was so happy, hootin' and hollerin' all over the empty livin' room, high-fivin' and pumpin' his arms like high-powered pistons, i was just glad for his sake that we won. after that, we got cleaned up and dressed, hit the town in the cruiser and headed to the casino down in miami. we met up with a couple of the boys, tony and mikey, real genuine guys, already there, scopin' the place out, lookin' for a good time. the place was packed like Time Square, a mix of old grannies at the penny slots, hootin' and clappin' with their glasses half-way down their noses, and the fat cats just standin' in the middle of the place with musty cigars, all jeweled up in gold necklaces, and wrist chains and watches, and then there were the girls. Oh lord, the girls. Such beautiful babes it broke my heart to pieces just to look at them. their smooth short dresses and their high heels and their hair all pinned up, i couldn't take it. such sorrow for lonely men like me breeds heavily in the presence of beautiful women like the women down in miami. so good lookin'; they don't know what to do with themselves. i didn't know exactly what to do with myself, so after one strong drink we split the place and snoozed back at JG's. We woke up early, with the alarms on and cleaned up, headed to church and got to mass just before halfway thru. I needed that cleansing. Just standing there, praying, opening myself up, trying to fill it with God and principles and wisdom. i always feel the peace simmering around my chest and shoulders after church, maybe that's one of the reasons why people keep going. the peace of God abiding in us. Even then, my long estranged cousin Paul was there, it was good to see him, we all grabbed lunch and i sat next to him, we talked and talked and joked around and he's a great guy i wish we had hung out more, but that's time, and we all know for the good things in life there is never enough time, and i suppose that's how it will always be on this earth. he picked up my check and then the whole group had to split, i had to say bye to the fellas and gave an extra slap n' hug to JG for all the hospitality and for showin' me a fantastic time around town. i split his place and sped close to 100miles an hour to make this rental deadline, but i was about two hours late, but the place was closed when i got there so i don't suppose it mattered too much. Pops and Unc A scooped me up and there was dinner ready when i got back, and i swallowed that whole meal at the dinner table while they watched tv and started sinking to sleep and then i just read a book on the air mattress until i couldn't keep my eyes open much longer and then zonk. out. snoozin til the morning.
The next day was real good too. woke up too early, i suppose i was too excited to keep still. i wandered around JG's apartment in the morning, went outside and just stood in the early morning sun with my eyes closed. If you stand in the sun down there long enough, you begin to feel like a tall glass of florida orange juice. that's the truth, but anytime before ten a.m. and be still. we had brunch at a little place that's real popular with the locals, i'd seen one before but never gone in, to be honest, i always thought it was a bank or something from the outside whenever i passed the one in downtown sarasota. we had coffee in tiny paper cups while we waited, JG and his roommate DoveDove, who i never really understood, such an interesting guy real quiet and seemed like he was always upset at something or tired, i suppose that's how it goes with all the young professionals, they got their heads slammed up in books all day when they step out in the world and feel the surge of life go through them they get uncomfortable with the strangeness of it all. I don't really know the guy, that probably ain't even close. So after that, me and JG met up with Sandy Miami in the downtown strip at some bar, where her cute colombian friend greeted us with kisses and ordered drinks at the bar with her friends. We left 'em, wandered slowly through this art festival, galleries of hundreds of artists' work, it was pretty busy. Inspiring too. i took the card of one painter whose work drew me back to my outlines. looking at his paintings was like tripping in the amazon again. once i get some money and a house of my own, i'm gonna look that guy up and put a great big picture of his in a room full of books and an easy chair, where i can just stare at that thing all day until the room starts spinning and i hear that music from heaven twirling through my head. we spent a few good hours there, then hit up the beach once we got real tired, and slept for a bit. we were stuck in traffic right downtown trying to get there and it was terribly packed but i didn't mind too much, though JG was driving and i felt bad he was just as tired as me, but i was hangin' my head out the window, drunk off the sun and tryin' to talk to the pretty babes walkin' by with their tanned bodies held up tight in their bikinis, it was such a pleasing sight for me. and the water and the wind and the sun and the smell from the restaurants and the faint waft of cigarettes and car exhaust and the music from cars comin' in altogether it was such a day to be alive, and i knew it right there right then, i was definitely alive and that was as certain as i'll ever be about that. the evening slowed down; we got some burritos and watched the college ball game back at JG's place until we won. JG was so happy, hootin' and hollerin' all over the empty livin' room, high-fivin' and pumpin' his arms like high-powered pistons, i was just glad for his sake that we won. after that, we got cleaned up and dressed, hit the town in the cruiser and headed to the casino down in miami. we met up with a couple of the boys, tony and mikey, real genuine guys, already there, scopin' the place out, lookin' for a good time. the place was packed like Time Square, a mix of old grannies at the penny slots, hootin' and clappin' with their glasses half-way down their noses, and the fat cats just standin' in the middle of the place with musty cigars, all jeweled up in gold necklaces, and wrist chains and watches, and then there were the girls. Oh lord, the girls. Such beautiful babes it broke my heart to pieces just to look at them. their smooth short dresses and their high heels and their hair all pinned up, i couldn't take it. such sorrow for lonely men like me breeds heavily in the presence of beautiful women like the women down in miami. so good lookin'; they don't know what to do with themselves. i didn't know exactly what to do with myself, so after one strong drink we split the place and snoozed back at JG's. We woke up early, with the alarms on and cleaned up, headed to church and got to mass just before halfway thru. I needed that cleansing. Just standing there, praying, opening myself up, trying to fill it with God and principles and wisdom. i always feel the peace simmering around my chest and shoulders after church, maybe that's one of the reasons why people keep going. the peace of God abiding in us. Even then, my long estranged cousin Paul was there, it was good to see him, we all grabbed lunch and i sat next to him, we talked and talked and joked around and he's a great guy i wish we had hung out more, but that's time, and we all know for the good things in life there is never enough time, and i suppose that's how it will always be on this earth. he picked up my check and then the whole group had to split, i had to say bye to the fellas and gave an extra slap n' hug to JG for all the hospitality and for showin' me a fantastic time around town. i split his place and sped close to 100miles an hour to make this rental deadline, but i was about two hours late, but the place was closed when i got there so i don't suppose it mattered too much. Pops and Unc A scooped me up and there was dinner ready when i got back, and i swallowed that whole meal at the dinner table while they watched tv and started sinking to sleep and then i just read a book on the air mattress until i couldn't keep my eyes open much longer and then zonk. out. snoozin til the morning.
Sounds of Waiting Near the Gulf of Mexico
A half paper cup of tea
on white sand
lapped into the mouth of Mexico,
the beach of millionaire dreams
and shattered Modelo bottles.
Seagulls circling the shallow fish
with small hungry beaks.
Under this palm tree I sit for hours,
where the time is not long
but not short either.
It can never go away now.
Once the wind has passed through you,
the salt is forever on your lips,
the shade carried on your skin,
one endless string of sleep
thickening and thinning all the days
of your life.
They say the people here
have such a sun-and-clouds sensibility,
always waiting for paradise
even when they’re ear-deep in the music
only experienced dreamers
can understand.
on white sand
lapped into the mouth of Mexico,
the beach of millionaire dreams
and shattered Modelo bottles.
Seagulls circling the shallow fish
with small hungry beaks.
Under this palm tree I sit for hours,
where the time is not long
but not short either.
It can never go away now.
Once the wind has passed through you,
the salt is forever on your lips,
the shade carried on your skin,
one endless string of sleep
thickening and thinning all the days
of your life.
They say the people here
have such a sun-and-clouds sensibility,
always waiting for paradise
even when they’re ear-deep in the music
only experienced dreamers
can understand.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
