Sunday, February 24, 2008
ALL OVER YOU
ringing once ringing twice ringing three times"
she answers "hello" i reply "hey there...."
the line disconnects
i sit the receiver on its cradle
a metal gate scraps against the sidewalk as it opens
my neighbor's car pulls into the driveway.
the phone rings "good morning" i say.
music is playing in the backround
she yells "you use to be all over me! all over me all the time.
you couldnt get enough. you use to be all over me!"
she pauses but i say nothing.
the music, a woman singing, joni mitchell
"....we got high on travel and we got drunk on alcohol
and on love the strongest poison and medicine of all...."
she goes on "i use to be good i went to church didnt smoke
didnt drink then you came along and you use to be all over me
and look at me now! i use to be real real good
now because of you im just a wicked little girl!"
i say nothing. the music in the backround continues
"....such a strange strange boy i gave him clothes and jewelry
i gave him my warm body and i gave him power over me...."
ringing once ringing twice ringing three times"
she answers "hello" i reply "hey there...."
the line disconnects
i sit the receiver on its cradle
a metal gate scraps against the sidewalk as it opens
my neighbor's car pulls into the driveway.
the phone rings "good morning" i say.
music is playing in the backround
she yells "you use to be all over me! all over me all the time.
you couldnt get enough. you use to be all over me!"
she pauses but i say nothing.
the music, a woman singing, joni mitchell
"....we got high on travel and we got drunk on alcohol
and on love the strongest poison and medicine of all...."
she goes on "i use to be good i went to church didnt smoke
didnt drink then you came along and you use to be all over me
and look at me now! i use to be real real good
now because of you im just a wicked little girl!"
i say nothing. the music in the backround continues
"....such a strange strange boy i gave him clothes and jewelry
i gave him my warm body and i gave him power over me...."
"SOK SABAI TAY"?
from my bed and through the open door i could see
a hilly island fishing boats and the bluest of blue sky....
....but something was missing
i walk across three wooden placks covering a ditch
of running sewage and follow a dirt footpath pass
brilliant greenery and through aromatic humid air
two groups of barefoot young men shout and yell
and play volleyball while nearby motorbikes reclin
in a long row beside a tall bamboo fence
a dog passes and its swollen teats bounce this way
then back as two girls holding cellphones wave their arms
to hale a small pickup truck loaded with pineapples.
beneath flapping blue tarps that cover hand carts of fruits
and rice and various cuts of meat five school boys sit on
metal folding chairs and loudly slurp noodles from tin bowls
the sounds of a woman singing increase as i climb
polished wooden steps and enter a karaoke bar.
taking a seat on a vinyl couch i order a beer
fried grasshoppers with lime and chili and listen
to the woman sing a melancholy love song
as the words crawl left to right on a video monitor.
the song ends i clap my hands and the woman
looking surprised brings her palms together
bows slightly says "ar kun" then comes to sits beside me.
i say "sok sabai" which causes her eyes to widen
"sok sabai sabai!" how you speak 'sok sabai'!?
how you speak khmer?" she says
i look at her eyes her face her smile
"you are a beautiful woman will you sleep with me?".
she says "ooohh you joking! ooohh you joking joking me!"
then places her hands over her blushing face and laughs.
"no joking you" i reply "me and you we sleep together"
softly laughing she leans against my shoulder and
gently says "sok sabai sabai. sok sabai tay?"
from my bed and through the open door i could see
a hilly island fishing boats and the bluest of blue sky....
....but something was missing
i walk across three wooden placks covering a ditch
of running sewage and follow a dirt footpath pass
brilliant greenery and through aromatic humid air
two groups of barefoot young men shout and yell
and play volleyball while nearby motorbikes reclin
in a long row beside a tall bamboo fence
a dog passes and its swollen teats bounce this way
then back as two girls holding cellphones wave their arms
to hale a small pickup truck loaded with pineapples.
beneath flapping blue tarps that cover hand carts of fruits
and rice and various cuts of meat five school boys sit on
metal folding chairs and loudly slurp noodles from tin bowls
the sounds of a woman singing increase as i climb
polished wooden steps and enter a karaoke bar.
taking a seat on a vinyl couch i order a beer
fried grasshoppers with lime and chili and listen
to the woman sing a melancholy love song
as the words crawl left to right on a video monitor.
the song ends i clap my hands and the woman
looking surprised brings her palms together
bows slightly says "ar kun" then comes to sits beside me.
i say "sok sabai" which causes her eyes to widen
"sok sabai sabai!" how you speak 'sok sabai'!?
how you speak khmer?" she says
i look at her eyes her face her smile
"you are a beautiful woman will you sleep with me?".
she says "ooohh you joking! ooohh you joking joking me!"
then places her hands over her blushing face and laughs.
"no joking you" i reply "me and you we sleep together"
softly laughing she leans against my shoulder and
gently says "sok sabai sabai. sok sabai tay?"
SUNNY SIDE UP
"....olive oil $6.59 two bottles of charles shaw $1.99 each
and one delacroix baguette $2.19, will that be atm or credit?"
walking back to her car i rub the back of her neck
my hand buried under a freshly washed layer of thick hair.
i drive north on spring to gale where i turn right
while i hold her left hand and play with its fingers.
after a meal of toasted baguette dipped into mashed avocados
garlic mangos sea salt and olive oil plus both two buck chucks
we lay on the backyard grass watching puffy white clouds
slowly drift across the blue blue sky
"lets do it?" i whisper into her ear. "lets do it? do what?
what are you talking about?" she replys. "you know" i say
as i flick open the four buttons on her blouse.
"no! karen might come home, stop you pervert!"
she laughs while letting me slide her skirt off.
"oooh this grass is damp no! no! no! not unless
youre on the bottom! this grass is wet!"
this grass is wet i think after rolling us to her being on top.
"youre just a pervert" she says "a pervert pervert pervert!
look the cat is watching! pinto he's a pervert and he's trying
to make me one too! come get him pinto!"
the cat scratchs its head yawns then moves to nestle himself
onto a pile of leaves by the rear chain link fence.
"ha ha silly cat wont save you now" i say
and gently pinch her waist.
minutes later the kitchen window opens
and her roommate karen shouts
"hey you guys! make sure you keep the sunny side up!"
"....olive oil $6.59 two bottles of charles shaw $1.99 each
and one delacroix baguette $2.19, will that be atm or credit?"
walking back to her car i rub the back of her neck
my hand buried under a freshly washed layer of thick hair.
i drive north on spring to gale where i turn right
while i hold her left hand and play with its fingers.
after a meal of toasted baguette dipped into mashed avocados
garlic mangos sea salt and olive oil plus both two buck chucks
we lay on the backyard grass watching puffy white clouds
slowly drift across the blue blue sky
"lets do it?" i whisper into her ear. "lets do it? do what?
what are you talking about?" she replys. "you know" i say
as i flick open the four buttons on her blouse.
"no! karen might come home, stop you pervert!"
she laughs while letting me slide her skirt off.
"oooh this grass is damp no! no! no! not unless
youre on the bottom! this grass is wet!"
this grass is wet i think after rolling us to her being on top.
"youre just a pervert" she says "a pervert pervert pervert!
look the cat is watching! pinto he's a pervert and he's trying
to make me one too! come get him pinto!"
the cat scratchs its head yawns then moves to nestle himself
onto a pile of leaves by the rear chain link fence.
"ha ha silly cat wont save you now" i say
and gently pinch her waist.
minutes later the kitchen window opens
and her roommate karen shouts
"hey you guys! make sure you keep the sunny side up!"
