That was what was that that is that was what was that that was what they what they had they had they had been talking had been talking about during another one of their what had been called by them or by other people.
make it both when it's hard to tell
make it neither when it's hard to tell
Clicking he was clicking on he was clicking out he was clicking out of the corner of his mouth a mechanical accent grounded in teeth flossed using only a held breath even though they kept on with the reminders to take it in and lay there while the reminders and the rubber mask is lowered to the sound of taking it in coming up the back of the throat into the front of the mind chewing on a condemning voice starting with the tissue wall making a hole in the cheek digging in towards that voice the voice swimming deeper between the grooves deeper deeper between the grooves between the two chairs the jacket had fallen down between the two chairs and the cloth that had become too greasy for cleaning eyeglasses was caught between the folds as waves of the ocean smashing into each other sinking more of an island being repossessed by the sea of a brain sticking to the envelope gum incapable of making it past the flap. Jogged one's forgetfulness the blank at the beginnings and ends of run-ins the exchange if you will and you won't. Nests are for expressions bracketed inside brackets bracketed within chewed off fingernails curving like a plastic dagger into the gum incapable of making it past the flap.
"I would have settled."
"I've wanted to know this."
"You've wanted to know what?"
"I thought I did, but that has sailed off."
"Sailed off for whereabouts?"
"Sailed off is not for whereabouts."
"What's happened to your big toenail then?"
"Sailed off is for paper airplanes and bolo testicles."
"Paper boats and bolo balls you mean."
"And severed lily pads."
"What did you do to your big toenail?"
"Which one are you getting at? They're all swollen."
"The biggest one."
"They're all the biggest one."
"Look there at that one the especially hideous one," she said without pointing until stumbling over a medium-sized mound before she had a chance to think again of the time she had thought of a comeback and everyone had already left and in hurrying to catch up with them she had stepped into a fresh mess.
"I've lost track of how many times you've sent yourself blundering over that same dung heap."
"It's not a dung heap."
"Dung mound."
"It's a medium-sized mound."
"With some dung on it."
"With some dung on it. I'll grant you that."
"Why don't you see it coming by now with all the times we've been through it in here?"
"I do see it."
"Then why don't you avoid it?"
"Avoid is for crotches and skulls."
"A weekend with the mother-in-law and my life."
"And an overdue trip to the can."
"Would be nice if we could find a can."
"Would be even better if we could find our way out of here."
A justification
was dropped in conversation
a conversation was dropped
in justification of being
being neutered
"Would be nice if we could find a can."
"Would be even better if we could find our way out of here."
"I told you we should have asked a neighbor for help."
"We did and they got lost in the alley as well."
"Well, where are they then?"
"I don't know. We lost them."
"Them? I don't recall there being more than one. And I don't think you can recall there being more than no one at all."
"You mean you don't remember when we were trying to follow behind along the way we were told would lead us out and the last time I saw the back of their coat they quickly turned that corner and disappeared. I remember because you were staggering yet again over the dung mound at that point."
"I'm standing next to the berm and there's no corner."
"They must have moved it when we were attacked by that trash bin."
"No one moved it and you were the instigator in all those trash bin fights."
"I was not the instigator in all of the bin battles. And did you refer to the mound as a dung berm?"
"If I had?"
"You're unable to see the corner due to the fog."
"Have you been told that you are perpetually in one?"
"Me and others have never really been on speaking terms. I've always had trouble connecting with others, but they certainly haven't had any difficulty connecting with me with my head more specifically for some reason. I just explain it as they like to talk with their hands."
"I was forced to see a puppet show against my will."
"I am in a puppet show and was forced to see my will."
"There it is again."
"You're not going to take this rather grim opportunity to mock my will are you?"
"No, there it is again, that dog bark."
"What about it?"
"I could have sworn I heard it before."
"When?"
"When? That is the question isn't it?"
"Isn't it? is the question."
"Isn't it? is for blisters and snakes digesting antelopes."
"An egg missing the frying pan and puppeteers out of dark clothes."
"Or women comfortable with small breasts."
"There it is again."
"That doesn't sound like a dog bark."
"I believe they occur in clusters of 4."
"You mentioned food."
"My apologies. You let me get away with your hearing me swallow my own snot the other day."
"The other day falls off of us unnoticed now. I used to see little thin small flaky bits of it floating in the light that would come in the window when I used to live on the inside side of a window. Now I can't even see over alley walls to catch a glimpse of the outside side of any. It was cream."
"Cream? Did you say cream?"
"It was a cream color. I thought I could see a two-story home that was a cream color when I heard that dog bark. It stood out because it looked like it was outside the alley and if we could just get to it we could be on our way."
"Every home has two stories. Some get away with only having to use one."
"If I had a home again."
"You won't let me mention food so why should you get to talk about home?"
"If I had a home again I would put a giant duck in front of it."
"What are you ranting about?"
"A mallard with the bright green head. Have you ever seen one of them? I've only seen a picture of one in a book and that was the female that doesn't even have the glossy green head. Someone told me about the males having the shimmering green head. I think it was my uncle who told me."
"Is that the one who died?"
"No they're still alive or were they on life support?"
"You said you had 2 no 5 on life support including your mother-in-law who was missing her bottom half."
"Her better half you dolt."
"You say you saw a picture of a duck in a book. I've never seen one - duck or book. I don't think anyone buys any. I don't see any being given away anymore. I'd be glad to make it out of this maze of an alley and be able to see a driveway again. Then I could show you all the books no one gives away."
"If I had a home again I'd put a duck on it a mallard that was a hundred feet tall just so I could tell people how to get to my house. I could say, just look for the house with the hundred foot tall mallard in front of it."
"That doesn't sound like a dog bark. You ever realize how much a yawn sounds like someone crying?"
"It was her bottom half that was missing. She was run over by a bus."
"Unsupportive boss?"
"Actually I don't have a mother-in-law. I've never been married."
"Were we paired up by a mutual friend or enemy? Or have we never actually met?"
"We've never actually met. Never got around to the introductions thing."
"What's the point right? I don't think we've ever been outside this alley. Just dreamed it or something."
"I used to complain about being moved into the wrong bracket now I think it's just an erroneous parentheses."
"You want an over-sized symbol on a front lawn you can't water of a house you can't get to just so you can be found."
"Never got around to the introductions."
The jacket had fallen down between the two chairs and the cloth that had become too greasy for cleaning eyeglasses was caught between the folds as waves of the ocean smashing into each other sinking more of an island being repossessed by the sea of a brain sticking to the envelope gum incapable of making it past the flap. Jogged one's forgetfulness the blank at the beginnings and ends of run-ins the exchange if you will and you won't. Nests are for expressions bracketed inside brackets bracketed within chewed off fingernails curving like a plastic dagger into the gum incapable of making it past the flap.
- Max Stoltenberg
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