Meet the New Boss

I looked over my shoulder
and what did I see?

A band of Angels
coming after me.

That buzz
became a roar and then
I couldn't take another step
for the bikes all around.

The sun was hard
in the hot blue sky.
The desert stretched
away to burnt mountains.

Nobody else around.
Not that it would have mattered.

They grinned like wolves.
I breathed deep .

"Hey, Cool,"
one of them said.
"Who might you be?"

Nicely written, Rick, and mighty interesting....

School's Out


"So, Odin, where do we live?"

"We live in the desert.
Godsville.  It's in the desert."

"True, Odin, but I meant
what country do we live in?"

"I know!  I know!"

"Yes Dharma?"

"We live in the United
States of Consciousness!"

"That's right, Dharma,
and what does it mean
to live in the United States of Consciousness?"

"It means Freedom of the Buzz
and the Rule of Cool."

"Correct, Dharma.
Yes Phineas?"

"Can we play now?"

Thanks, Tom.  I'm going to be reworking a fictional idea I got about ten years ago.  This will be the third long narrative I've tried.  I wonder if poem form can hold the freight.  Well, we'll find out.

Rick

3.  Fitting the Profile

For awhile there, it was all
cop talk
of the non-hostile variety:

Where you from?
How'd you get here?
See anything we should know about?

Then the blonde girl
who was their spider,
staring hard at her console, said
"He's not in here.  Anywhere."

And even for the desert
it got quiet.

"Did you send his picture?"
asked the leader,
a wide-body sort
with an eye patch.

"First thing,"
she said.

"What about his name?"
said the other leader,
snakey-looking
with a scar across his cheek.

"Three alternate spellings,"
said the spider.
Her hair,
long and held back
with leather bands,
waggled doubtfully.

Somebody's holster unsnapped.

Still enjoying this a lot, Rick.

4.  At the Academy

"Deb, you're in charge of the new boy.
I'll leave him here with you.
Up to speed as soon as possible, please."

"Yes, Ma'am.
Your name is George, right?"

"Yeah."

"It's 'Yes, Ma'am.'
Eveyone above you is Sir or Ma'am.
And right now,
everyone's above you."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Take this school manual
and sit there by the ficus.
You have two days
to learn it
or we throw you back.
The bathroom is there.
The lunchroom is next to it.
Take your breaks as you see fit.
I'll be in Product Development
if you need me, but
don't need me."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"You must have been a real
problem for them over there.
It's rare for us
to get an eight-year old.
Usually they're broken by then."

He grinned.
"Yes, Ma'am."

5.  A Bear by Any Other Name


“So Bear’s your name?”
said Widebody,
shifting on his Harley.

“That’s right,”
I said, trying
to look bored.

“That your full name?”

“Didn’t know
I’d be needing it.
Ching Monkey
Sleeps With Bear.
That’s the full label.”

“Not in the system,’
said Spider,
shaking that braid.
“Though there is
a Ching Monkey.
One of the old Supers.
Gone about ten years.”

Snake looked interested.
“Dead?”

I didn’t like them
talking about me, so
I cut in.
“No, and I’ll tell you
when and where.
Burning Man 1990.
That’s the last time
your folks pinned me down.
One of ‘em wanted
a reading.”

“He throws the Ching,”
said the blonde,
reading off the screen.

“Allegedly,” said Snake.
“Say he’s a spy.
He could have doped
that story out of the real
Ching Monkey
before he offed him. 

“Immy,”
said a voice behind me.

“Eggy, maybe”
said another voice.

Immy.  Illegal immigrant.
Eggy. Exile.  Government in exile.  Spy.

I was feeling the whole thing
slide, and wasn’t sure
how to dig in.

“Just for speculation,”
said a chick with
whipped around black hair,
“let’s ask him how
he got the rest of the name.”

“Taquamenon Falls,”
I said to the two leaders.
“Inducted
into Bear Lodge there.
Nineteen ninety-four.”

“At last!” said the blonde,
her fingers flying over the keys.
“Something to check.”

Thanks, Silent.  Rootless grins back atcha.

6.  At the Rat's Ass Bar and Grill


"I hear they took your kid.
Sucks."

"Yeah, but he was glad to go.
Hated my ass ever since
the first time I backhanded him
for smartmouth.  Kid never could
let go of a grudge."

"Swung a mean bat, though.
School's gonna miss him next spring.
I can't see him at the new place
prancing around in tennis whites."

"He's not gonna stay there.
He's too cool for them Straights."

"You ain't saying."

"Yeah, I'm saying.
Fucking kid's
gonna climb right up the pole
and sit there
till somebody shoots him off."

"Hey, don't cry.
He'll be all right."

"I hated my old man, too.
You're supposed to.
But not like that."

nice portrait of confused feelings here, Rick.

7.  On the Road

She turned the screen
so everybody could see.

A big, hairy face filled it.
“Beat it!” said the face.
“We ain’t open till sundown.”

“Is this Taquamenon Falls Bear Lodge?”
said the Spider.
“We got a fellow here
says he’s one of yours.

“Lemme see!”
She turned the camera to face me.

“Never laid eyes on him before!”

I opened my mouth.
Somebody grabbed my arm.

“Holster your sidearms, folks!”
said the face, cracking a grin.
“I was just having some fun
cause you woke me and all.

No, that ugly sombitch
is Ching Monkey Sleeps with Bear.  
We call him Sleepy,
but we’re family.
Not surprised you got him down
and started nibbling on him.
Dumb shit couldn’t tell
a beehive from a hornet’s nest
if it bit him, and they often do.”

The hand left my arm.
I shook a little,
couldn’t speak.

“But dumb as he is,” said the face,
“he got the full
faith and credit of Bear Clan Universe,
and we protect our own.”
That last was said
with a stare straight into the camera,
a stare that would set you backing up slow
if you saw it on a real bear.

After that it was wine and roses,
Or at least ripple and pot brownies.
They said their sorriest all around,
Handed me a joint, handed me some blotter,
Invited me to ride with them
Back to the barracks.

I smiled.  It was a sickly smile.  
I could feel it sliding down my face.
Then they left in a roar
and the silence wrapped me again.

I threw away the acid,
kept the joint,
headed straight off the road
till I couldn’t see it anymore.

good, good, good

8.  Jump-rope

   One, two, three, four,
   They made us go to their fucking war.
   Five, six, seven, eight,
   We put an end to their whole damn state.


“Yellow, what’s a fuckingwar?”

“Fucking  war.”  It’s a bad war
where the wrong people
kill the wrong people
for the wrong reasons.
Thirty years ago there was a bad war
and the people made a revolution
so that the United States of America
disappeared and became us,
the United States of Consciousness.

“Oh.
Were you ever in a war?”

“There hasn’t been a war
since the Rev.
The USC is a peaceful country.
We don’t bother anybody
and nobody bothers us.”

“Why are you called Yellow?”

“It’s short for Yellow Composite,
a type of flower.
I was a botanist when I tested,
and my leary gave me that name.”

“I want to play jump-rope.”

“Go over and ask them.”

“They’ll say no.”

“Not while I’m here.
They want to be Cools someday
and no Cool can refuse
a reasonable request.”

“From each according to a billy,
To each according to need.”

“From each according to ability.
They have the rope
and they can turn it.
To each according to need.
You need exercise like any kid.”

“OK.
HEY!  CAN I PLAY TOO?”