| Author | Message | ||
| native dancer
Advanced Member Username: nativedancer Post Number: 218 Registered: 12-2004 |
last night barbara went to her class reunion and jimmy jenkins got choked on a piece of chicken until evin sides who had become a doctor used the heimlick to save him jimmy jenkins i said jesus all this time i thought he was in my class not yours but that's the way it's getting to be now all of us blending in together bits and pieces of onion and tomato bubbling up in the same sauce and there are times when i cross paths with an absolute stranger uptown who i will swear i've met before or somebody will come up to me in the grocery store and say hey there didn't you used to drive a rig for fergusson and like only yesterday while i was waiting on a prescription at eckerd's i ran into john barnhardt another classmate of barbara's who asked if i was going to the reunion and when i said no he said had i heard from bill harmon lately which as a matter of fact i had not although i had dedicated a book to bill a while back but john said bill always claimed he was in their class too which was hard to figure john thought because bill had left high school on a scholarship to the university of chicago when he was fifteen which in effect made him a kind of orphan but truth be known john said bill was actually a year behind them and the only reason he wanted to be in their class was he was a friend of garren tate and they both played trumpet in the band but jimmy jenkins and i were never in the band all we did was fight and the last fight we ever had we were rolling around in the grass behind the bandroom and we were so tired both of us and nobody was winning and jimmy said it was time he had to go home so we stopped and when we got up i had tore the knee out of my jeans and jimmy said he was sorry about that and then he looked like he was going to cry and he said let's don't do this anymore okay and out of that whole bunch he is probably the only one i would like to seen because this morning i'm thinking back to when he would get off the schoolbus and his dog would be waiting for him jumping up in the air and all around barking like crazy to greet him and i'd like to ask him what ever happened to the dog and what was his name and i could tell him about our old pom cocoa how he's losing the use of his rear legs so he wets on himself like barbara's sister vicki at the nursing home and if i don't hold him up while he eats he will fall over into his food not that helping him is such a great chore but it does make me dizzy sometimes bending over putting my palms around his little bird chest and this morning when he got done and i lifted him up in my arms to take him back to his bed i slipped and fell in the hall and just missed crushing him beneath me because thank god somehow i got my elbows out in front of me to take the shock and while i'm getting up i could see jimmy choking and wishing i'd been there because jimmy jimmy oh god jimmy i learned the heimlick a long time ago and i could have put my arms around you like when we used to wrestle and i would have saved you i know i would even if evin sides wasn't even around and then we could talk about how you went off and became a banker holy cow a banker and you could tell me about your dog and i could maybe make you understand how i really feel inside how i know don't any of us have very long and when cocoa goes i just want to be there with him and tell him it's all right it's okay i'm with you baby you're not alone rest easy rest little cocoa and i can pray out loud please god just put your arms around us let's don't do this anymore (Message edited by nativedancer on October 30, 2005) (Message edited by nativedancer on October 30, 2005) (Message edited by nativedancer on October 30, 2005) (Message edited by nativedancer on October 30, 2005) (Message edited by nativedancer on October 30, 2005) | ||
| Penelope
Intermediate Member Username: penelope Post Number: 351 Registered: 07-2005 |
I'm bleeding...again. Incredible how you poetically and psychologically zero in on situational dramas. You're a master at this. Penelope | ||
| Lazarus
Valued Member Username: lazarus Post Number: 119 Registered: 10-2005 |
Perfect. You get to say so much with your dramas, and they are so readable. I'm quite jealous at this point. | ||
| Gary Blankenship
Senior Member Username: garyb Post Number: 5437 Registered: 07-2001 |
all of us blending in together bits and pieces of onion and tomato bubbling up in the same sauce I'll trade you my title for these lines... A great read, the s of c near perfect, you take us through humor, pathos, and lord knows what else... Be pleased. Smiles. Gary The Eye of the Coming Storm http://www.mindfirerenew.com/ | ||
| Teresa White
Valued Member Username: teresa_white Post Number: 183 Registered: 01-2005 |
Very enjoyable and entertaining read --full of great insight and pathos. I'm rapidly becoming a fan! Best, Teresa | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 5648 Registered: 11-1998 |
You're not happy unless you make me cry buckets in the end, are you, j? God, we're all gettin' old. Yes -- let's not do this anymore. Please. *sigh* | ||
| michael julius sottak
Advanced Member Username: julius Post Number: 1699 Registered: 12-2003 |
god bless you, Jim i'm not Pentacostal... I have a sense of humor... but you make me grin with tears in my eyes | ||
| native dancer
Advanced Member Username: nativedancer Post Number: 219 Registered: 12-2004 |
thanks everyone. the main reason i like to post here is that this forum has such a big heart. and i've been a fan of yours for a long time now, teresa ... you always deliver. yes, M, yes. let's not. but i doubt he'll listen. yeah, gary, somehow i think you and me would make a great poet lol. okay, julius, tears are easy. what i want to do is learn how to talk in tongues. i'm so grateful, guys. and if cocoa were still with us, i know he'd thank you too. jim | ||
| Greg Young
New member Username: popof3 Post Number: 27 Registered: 02-2005 |
I love the way you ramble this out, using the ends of lines like little hiccups of crying while telling what happened. I can see the hankie, the people holding your hands, men standing around you, and the smell of smoke and death and teary snot. It's there. I really like this. Needeed to breath a couple times myself, but I'm not the talker, I'm the listener. Join me at http://popspoetryfarm.bravehost.com/ . See you in our forum! | ||
| Morgan Lafay
Intermediate Member Username: morganlafay Post Number: 685 Registered: 08-2005 |
You are a great, great, wondrous storyteller. ((((((((hugs to you)))))))) Morgan | ||
| Laurie Byro
Advanced Member Username: lauriette Post Number: 1320 Registered: 11-2003 |
a bedtime story every night from you uncle jim, tell me one more pleassssssssssssee. I like the way you follow a thread to the end and it tangles and chocks us up and delights us at the same time. peace laurie | ||
| Dale McLain
Advanced Member Username: sparklingseas Post Number: 1500 Registered: 11-2004 |
Whew, Jim! That was a good ride. Thanks for taking me along. take care~dale | ||
| native dancer
Advanced Member Username: nativedancer Post Number: 221 Registered: 12-2004 |
greg, it's the good listeners who make good poets. thanks, jim. well, ms morgan, from one story teller to another, my gratitude. laurie, i don't know what you're still doing up, it's way past your bedtime. thanks, dale ... you're welcome to climb on board anytime. | ||
| LJ Cohen
Moderator Username: ljc Post Number: 3225 Registered: 07-2002 |
Jim--I will remember the images in this piece for a long time to come. Thank you. ljc http://ljcbluemuse.blogspot.com/ | ||
| native dancer
Advanced Member Username: nativedancer Post Number: 225 Registered: 12-2004 |
lisa, dear lisa, to have one's work remembered is always part of the equation, i think, and when the comment comes from someone whose own work i admire, i feel doubly blessed. gratefully ... jim |
