Bed
Roll’d over, as it’d engulfed them completely
by that time. Judge, they could not have known where they were any more. But.
Hurry! Hurry! In one piece!
One piece’ll huff’n ‘nd puffin’n blow but
one piece-part. Pip!
Party!
Smooth-sailing.
Wonderful!
Top-mayor this time met with the General
Manager, who’d called that morning only saying, Eh Top? Ya, me. Okay there’s a
plan on the desk here, come on, yes. Yes, a possible way out, yes. I know—oil-painted
sailing ship on the office wall looming larger than ever and ever—perhaps it
does seem to have taken a bit too (0) long but, behind the painted panel
jut’d two screws holding the picture hangers—so all-consumingly important while
the picture’s being hung, especially if there’s a glass picture-face, and a hard
floor beneath, so important. 1 2 3 4 3 4 5 6 7 Oh so, so important, that litsy-bitsy hook’s the
world it seems; all the world, it seems; ‘til, the juke drops safe n’ sound
into the safe of the bolthook, and the attention drains back off the hook’d
back, to the much more enjoyable to swoon over sailing-ship front. And, the
hook—though still important and the cause of the offices overall stability, and
thence happiness—is—forgotten. Never thought of again. Just, forgotten. U’. Anyway,
but; I got a plan put together. Can you come down and see it and listen to it, from
out this same mouth speaking now, but then and there as I propose it, it will
be so damn much closer so-so, see, you will find yourself unable to resist. The
idea popped out back while they were all crying, Anthony Haas’ house blew up, Ma!
Ma’ bunny! Li’l bunny! Li’l bunnies’ house blew up! Drive me out to see it, can
you Dad? Can you oh can you oh oh can you, Dad? 5 6 7 8 9 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 The
rain it’s pouring and it's after dark, I know, but please, Dad? Please? A
drive? A drive I can blast the car radio in, Dad? So I can so I can nag nag nag
nag, Dad? So I can blast the car radio, the radio car radio, so, I can blast,
and then blast, the car radio then. ‘nd again, and again, and again?
Thank you Dad!
(snort)
After that we felt that the forms we’d devised
may not have been needed at all. Nor the whole census itself, perhaps, but—no, hey,
listen. Do not look so amazed. Or look doubtful, either. Here, here. Heavens To
Betsy Burry’s Are Good. Plus, it’s possible—it just may be possible, Bunny,
that what happens when planet Earth finally gets pushed off the edge may not—no
do not call him Bunny, Mom. At least not in front of the other kids, because they
will make fun. 11 12 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 14 15 They mean the death of all
on board, but rather, yah, and that goes for that other one, too. Yes, that one
sitting over there, see them? See them chopping up that great big board with
that—that damned thing. That’s the one you so offhandedly called Sweet Pea. I mean,
look who you are calling Sweet Pea. Or Bunny, even. Sweet Pea. Bunny. Hear
them? Don’t both sound ridiculous? For God’s sake, please; heavens to Betsy,
Burry’s are good. See? Hear? See hear how silly? This is why we started think
that this kind of “death” may not actually be “death” at all. No
no no, but—a kind of, ahem, other place, you see. Just like this place. But
lower. This said, then, if I were you, I’d call them no more Bunny, M-Mommy. Plus
no more Sweet Pea ‘la looney-t’, too. Just as good planets forced out of existence
the way we’ve been worried over, may actually end up in a lower place, that all
the pointers to which just got forcibly severed, damn tootin’. 16 17 18 19 20
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Which may
not even be a problem at all, you see. Damn-damn tootin’. Like; the way you
were saying there’s a big blown up house over there? Eh? Could be worse you
know. Could be your house, you know. Right, Sweet Pea, Bunny? Yes? Right? Wrong?
Or maybe even who cares, Bunny? Hah. Why did we not see this sooner as so
simple? Seems like as a collective species we have forsaken such simple alternatives.
We lost sight of the fact that the folks hereabouts aren’t the only folks that
be. Shows that we need to keep on, ‘n go on, ‘n try harder, lookin’. But anyway,
what? Oh? Where’s my proof, you ask? Okay—here’s my proof; I just sent those
two spouses +Proust+ to the MOON nah nah nah, he, I funnied! I
keed. Yes, I keed! Please, disregard all such outbursts. Bailiff, please
bailiff, ah bailiff, a Gimi ah bailiff please, pl-l-lease—and thank
you. Oh thank you. Anyway, Judge, the way things were ripped, I looked down in
the car from the upper left quadrant. I observed Master Haas sitting 25 26
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 28 29 30 31 32 29 30 31 32 (33) 32 31 30 29 32 31 30 29 28
30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 26 25 there round, while his out-of state MommaPop/great
big PoppyMomma, or two three or more, ignored his plight completely. I mean it
was like—it was—like, eh ah wah eh hey Puk-the-big-Ray, my terminal’s off the
center-line today. It was that bad a problem. And the cries such as, If you
please, Gimi, up out of the noise, please—laced with Never mind that, Bunny, never
mind this. Just take cover, Gimi—but why’d you take cover ‘nd leave me out here?
Sweet honey it was pitiful to hear. Like, Out here all bony like this, Gimi? Why,
Gimi, my Bunny, my Pea? And they went on to claim that if Anthony were really
Bunny, and not at all the Anthony he just happens to be, then the rule to apply
would be that same old hollow law what drove Top-mayor’s first simultaneous jawdropper,
remember? Remember their “incomprehensible mutterances off the center line”? But never mind that—but hey, look. Can you
explain to the gallery what are all these ripped-up white fragments strewn out
from the side of this freshly exploded house, PopMommy? You ought not be
calling your children such names, MommyPop. These poor wretches need to be able
to survive the playground at recess, where there’s gutlevel suckerpunches readymade
to be thrown, like this 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 20 19 18 17 16 OOF!
oh ma OOF! like that and like that, I mean for God’s sake, shaking down my
head, and my head and my head and my ‘illina ‘illina stil’ down t’ road hipsla-tango!
Don’t play dumb! You know what I said!
.
Yes you do! Don’t deny!
!
Oh! Still?
!
No that can’t be.
.
No, no. That can’t be.
.
Okay,
step back, get ready, you asked for it NO okay you asked for it; ASK
YOUR DOCTOR that can’t be! Heavens, there’s a big well well well YOUR
DOCTOR IF well it’s th’ ‘tte, Top-mayor’s is a . big blown To no no DOCTOR
IF EXPERIMENTAL no no that can’t b’ big blown up Betsy be well IF
EXPERIMENTAL MATHEMATICS (mathematics? What the hell?) it first is
no blown up house that Burry’s . {shut up damn you you asked for this you wanted
this}. can’t EXPERIMENTAL MATHEMATICS IS (Jesus, Christ Jesus,
Christ Jesus Christ, 15 14 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 12 11 D-d’ Jesus the
Christ, tell me please kindly maker what the heaven or hell is this
experimental mathematics la stupid la silly la la ala la {eck!} be yes well
it up house there is and are no way IS RIGHT . . . simultaneous no that
can’t be well good, it is anyway! No IS RIGHT FOR no; that can’t be jawdropper’d
yes, well it is not no RIGHT FOR YOU no way uncle Donald no way no-no
way that can’t be well it is = no? What?
No! That can’t be RIGHT FOR YOU? .
. . {shut up damn you you asked for this you wanted this} . . . be yes
well it is no no that can’t “No” ever b’ RIGHT FOR YOU! So; be well kindly
brother it’s no [zaggidda-zaggidda-zaggidda-zaggidda] that can’t be made, yes? UOY ROF THGIR well it is fucking no no that can’t be well ᴚI⅁H⊥ ℲOᴚ ⅄O∩¡ it
is no that can’t be “way!” 10 9 8 10 9 8 7 6 9 8 7 6 5 yes, well, it THGIR
ROF ?UOY is no no-no that can’t be! Well it is . .
. . . . . as RIGHT FOR YOU! oh oh oh uncle Donald
we said No we said—NO! that can’t be! yes well it is! no! RIGHT FOR YOU?
? taht on si ti llew eb
yeht t’nac taht on RIGHT FOR YOU! taht . . . {shut up
damn you you asked for this you wanted this}. . . on on ylwols si ti
llew sey eb t’nac RIGHT FOR YOU? ɔɐuɹsbnoʇ qǝ ʍǝןן ᴉʇ ᴉs uo ʇɥɐʇ ɔɐuɹsbnoʇ
qǝ ɹoן RIGHT FOR YOU! Yes, well it is! And no don’t call me Bunny no
more, MommyPoppy, no . . . . that can’t be well Priscilla’s big babies RIGHT
FOR YOU? it is by no fuckin’ way. No no no, don’t call me Sweet Pea no more
{tangla-teeshliqua!} PoppyMom no fuckin’ way it’s RIGHT FOR YOU no
fuckin’ 7 6 5 4 3 4 3 2 1 no fuckin’ it’s -7
-6 -5 (0) 5 6 7 RIGHT FOR YOU? . .oil-painted
sailing ship on the office wall looming larger than ever! And, ever so I can
blast the car radio the radio car radio {shut up damn you you asked for this
you wanted this}hailing captain Nancy so I can blast -3 -2 -1 (0)
1 2 3 and then blast 0 0 0 (0) 0 0 0 the car r-r-radio,
all hail ‘nd all hail then ‘nd again and again and a okay okay okay pkay and Dad
finally gave way and 0 0 0 0 CHARGED THEM DIRECTLY OUT TO THE TEETH
OF THE DRIVING NIGHT-TIME RAIN as ‘e gets his God-damned way again mutter
mutter mutter mutter—0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 way/conk/pop/
!
What?
way/conk/pop/
!
What?
way/conk/pop/ way/conk/pop/ way/conk—noooooooooo—
No! I fell the hell out of bed!
?
!
Jesus Christ Jesus Christ Jesus Christ, you
DID?
Ye’ I did, yes, I
‘ did
fall out of bed—
uh uh
Wow but—4 a.m.? So it is anyway. Time to rise anyway. Get up hit the lights.
—Jim
Meirose
