While You Were Out #2
And that’s the way it is.
—Walter Cronkite
Del called. The notes here
say “something about whether
eking out little victories that
lead to progress, idealist and/or
otherwise—and whether such
winning requires either a modicum
of memory or an act of the imag
ination. Either or both? Who
is this guy? Now he sits in his
just too tiny for comfort home
of short term memory. Today,
presently (oddly satisfied, con
tent.) He has just finished watching
the first season of an apocalyptic tv
series. Listening to the news while
slamming away at his writing
utensil is a grave mistake
(grave as in…?). In this episode
he is, at the very least, a member
of the cast. Is he not? Proving
what? In his hands, the pages
of a book are whirring with a
whoosh that is a shush, as his
thumb shifts over the middle
of the collection’s lips. Haven’t
finished one of these in over
a year, he thinks solemnly,
nostalgically. The infusion
of news helps keep him from
winning this war. Or clarity of
focus is an outdated model. He
concentrates, ever open to chaos.
