mmmcccxcix

jabs

in high school,
which relevantly
included junior
high where i
went, the kids,
the adolescents,
the almost adults,
the ones that had
the wherewithal to
put such things off
into the future and
didn’t immediately,
once riled up, scuffle,
whether in class, in the
hallways at the lockers
before, between or after
class, during class some
times, the ones with a look
toward the future, would

make an appointment to
take care of their business
behind the circle m during
lunch, at the end of the day
after classes were done, or
sometimes mornings before
classes even started or during
classes that were skipped just
for such occasions. i never did
participate, except when grabbing
my corn-nuts and seven-up for
lunch, which i did now and again,
sometimes every day of a week, at
the circle m, and upon leaving the
store, or before entering it, and i’d
see an inordinate amount of dust
sweeping across the lot through
the gas pumps, or hear a bunch
of noise like there might be a
basketball or football game
going on, only of course
there wasn’t, i’d peek
around the southeast
corner of the small
building, see a few
guys standing up
going in and out
of sight behind
the brick wall
to the north
side or “back
yard” of the
circle m,
and once or
twice i slowly
crept along the
east wall of bricks
until i nearly got to the
very end and then i’d
see it, the odd shaped 
circle of boys, hands up in
the air rooting on one or the
other of the two who remained
in the open space, the center of
the misshapen circle. there might
be a bloody nose or two, there might
be a tackle down to the gravel for a
moment, but when they were up and
dancing around in the open space with
their hands up in the air, the jabs they
managed were hesitant, juvenile, i’d
say now, and frightened, they looked
afraid, and i can’t remember ever seeing
a punch that ever landed on flesh in the
mere moments of experience i had catching
glimpse of the fights behind the circle m. it
gave me some hope. even when it came to a
real fight, the dance was about fear and intim
idation more than anything else, the intent to
literally hurt, to cause pain, seemed to be on
nobody’s minds but the massive amoeba of
boys cheerleading, egging on the temporary
foes, making room for the fight’s existence.


     *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


i learned this week that i’m due for a booster
vaccine shot. in fact, anyone who got the
johnson & johnson shot was officially
recommended to get a booster shot
no earlier than two months after getting
the first one. i got my jab over six months
ago, and only after i had my own bout with
the monster that gave the world the pandemic
within which we’ve so awkwardly meandered aim

lessly about now for what will soon be two years. i 

remember getting the shot right in front of my nut

ritionist’s office door (only because i recognized her 

name; i had never met her, our appointments were of
course via telephone: i had recently been diagnosed a 

diabetic). the mood was a bit sedate, but still there was 

the distinct look and feel of celebration, particularly on the
faces of the staff who did such a wonderful job herding us 

inside and getting us to the right places at the right times
for our individual jabs. for a week, the area where the
needle went in to my arm was incredibly sore, as if 

i had somehow managed to overwork just the por
tions of the muscles in the near vicinity, or had 

been punched by a person with inordinate 

strength as hard as they could punch 

directly over where the needle jab 

had recently occurred.

     *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


for nearly two years, i’ve enjoyed the luxury of
having a very special person in my life. the only
problem has been he lives in the southern hemi
sphere of our great planet, and thanks to the pan
demic that began quite around the same time that
our relationship began, we’ve yet to even meet in
person. which is not to say we don’t talk daily and
at length, we don’t have most of the joys and spats
and friskiness and repartee that most anyone who
enjoys a more proximal thing of this sort would
presumably normally enjoy. before things went
haywire, the plan was for him to come visit what
would now be some eighteen months ago. thanks 

to travel restrictions, as well as financial restrictions, 

we have yet be in the same room with each other.
while i don’t believe in karma, this part of the
story is particularly karmic, given how much
grief and fun i’d poke at any friend who, over
the years, would regale their long-distance rel
ationship stories. but that’s a digression. today
is special because today my very special person
just got his second vaccination jab. the embassies
are still not taking visa interviews for trips to the
united states in that faraway place where he lives,
but it cannot but surely bring that day significantly
closer, and makes for a wonderful reason to cele
brate nonetheless, i would say. jabs. 

jab jibberty jab.