1bigblackblog

BAGUS !

the food stall of mister mana jirajumrus
sits inside the concrete floored entrance hall
and a dozen meters from the hat lek taxi stand.
i order green chili fish with garlic pumpkin
and fried peas. fifteen baht

as i begin to eat mister mana walks over
" you can eat spicy food, what is your country ?"
i tell him california. he says
" california!, a big country, a faraway country! america, yes ?"
i smile, nod and remove a fishbone from my mouth

mister mana continues " i have one friend, thai people,
he go to america, minnesota. after some years he make
a video, send to me. wah ! he live big house, rich !
he drive mercedes benz, number one car! he have
girlfriends, young! blond hair, wah !! i tell wife i go america
visit friend. she find video, watch ! see young girls,
see blond hair, wah ! i no make visit "

he speaks to his wife and she takes a small bowl,
puts a hardboiled egg in it and gives it to mister mana.
he sets it next to my plate " for you, free, no pay ".
pointing to a jar on my table he says "nam pla, put on egg,
bagus ! you know ' bagus '? funny word, sumatra people,
indonesia. i work five years, mining. i speak indonesia,
learn 'bagus', meaning ' good '

mister mana turns and greets a customer, an old woman.
they chat for a few moments and he calls to his wife.
she brings a bowl of soup to the woman's table.
he says to me " before, america a friendly country,
a happy country ! now, america a enemy of every people "

he points at the egg " cut half, put nam pla, bagus !"

NO PLACE TO GO

i can hear music from a nearby apartment

"....riding along in my automobile
my baby beside me at the wheel

i stole a kiss at the turn of a mile
my curiosity running wild...."

the late morning sun is hidden
for a moment by a large cloud

a man in baggy jeans and black tee shirt
walks with a woman whose hair is braided
and colored bright orange and lime green

three young girls squeal and laugh
and splash in a plastic wading pool

"....the night was young and the moon was gold
so we both decided to take a stoll

can you imagine the way i felt
i couldnt unfasten her safety belt...."

a green basket piled high with freshly washed laundry
is carried by a chubby woman in a long yellow skirt and blouse

two small boys chase a tan striped cat down the sidewalk
a man in white corderoy pants and cowboy hat shouts
" paletas! paletas! " while pushing a blue cart

"....riding along in my calaboose
still trying to get her belt aloose

all the way home i held a grudge
for the safety belt that wouldnt budge

cruising and playing the radio
with no particular place to go"

GLAMOUR PUSS


"....well boy let me tell you, she had long legs,
i mean long beautiful legs that just went on and
on and on. and a pair! lord have mercy that gal
had a pair on her like mae west, yes she most certainly did! "

at crenshaw blvd i came to a rolling stop and
turned right onto jefferson ave

"....and hair, the woman had a mane like gloria swanson,
all silky and long and such, yes she did! i had just been
discharged, just off that dadburn boat three days before,
and i had my uniform on, still had it on but freshly
washed and ironed, yes indeed boy! "

he reached into his shirt pocket and fished out a marboro.
i pushed in the dashlighter and pulled out the ashtray

" ....so i looked at this woman and thought, ' lord have
mercy! will you take a gander at this fine filly here! ',
that is just what i said. and i had just been discharged and
i feel like the big bad wolf and lo and behold here is little
goldylocks! and i say to myself ' seven come eleven and
baby needs a new pair of shoes! ' yes i most certainly did! "

the lighter popped out and he lit his cigarette as i turned
left at saint andrews place

"....and then i took off my hat, slicked back my hair,
walked right on over to that glamour puss and boy
dont you know i looked into those betty davis eyes
and said, ' well hello beautiful! my name is charles and
i think you and i ought to...."

A BICYCLE FOR TWO


vicky give me your answer do
i'm half crazy all for the love of you

there won't be a stylish marriage
i cannot afford a fancy carriage

but you'll look sweet upon the seat
of a bicycle built for two....

once i was in love with a woman
who lived by the sea and near
the end of our time together
we bought a bicycle built for two

oh what fun we had riding up and
down the empty streets at night
and back and forth on quiet bike
paths at dawn

after the drinking of two bottles of
homemade sangria and eating olive oily
pasta from the pot our last morning
together was spent riding along the sea

late night rain left the sky clear
as crystal and three colorfully
sailed boats bobbled up and down
while buildings on a close by island
reflected the early light of the sun

as we slowly cruised a cobble stoned
road into an empty rv park a huge
wave hit a concrete seawall and
showered up into the air then down
onto our heads

we shouted and laughed and it was
a movie like ending to a love that
had been briefly rekindled by
buying a bicycle built for two

DOLLAR BILL BLUES


the ceiling fan rhythmically squeaked. four large insects
flew around the room. a uniformed man raised his
right arm andsignaled me to come forward. a bamboo
stool was in frontof his deck. " sit " he said. i did and
handed him my documents.he looked at the pages
" you pay one dollar. special fee "

i pulled a bill from my shirt pocket and placed it
on his desk.he opened a drawer, put it inside and returned
the documents to me,then pointed to a woman seated
beneath an open window opposite us " go there. "
a chair was besides her desk. " sit " she said. i did and
gave my papers which she glanced at briefly
" you pay special fee. one dollar "

after i paid she smiled and extended her arm towards a door
" exit there "

the air was humid and the sky partly overcast.
a man sat on a motorcycle " transport ? " he said.
i walked over and sat behind him " how much to town ? "
he turned around " you pay how much ? " from my
shirt pocket i pulled a dollar bill " lets go ". he looked
at the bill then at me "one dollar !? what one dollar pay !!? "

he put his hand on the fuel tank " get petrol ? up !
eat rice ? up !! drink beer ? up !!! " he took the bill,
folded it in half and placed it in his jean jacket left pocket.
" one dollar !? what one dollar make !!? want girl ? up !
before condom free ! now no free !! must pay !!!
everything up ! up !! up !!! "

THE PIRATE'S BOOTY

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Drink and the devil had done the rest
We wrapped 'em all in a main's line tight

With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight
Then a yo heave ho into the sullen swell
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell....

in a recent conversation a friend told me her daughter
owns eighty seven pairs of shoes. she has never owned
more than six pair at one time in her life and grew up
with only two paid until her late teens. what is the process
that allows a twenty year old daughter to possess that
much while a generation earlier her mother owned
so much less?

i have another friend who owns a house worth over
two million dollars. she, her sister and parents grew up
in a home worth a tiny fraction of that amount.
her sister, a teacher, died with one million dollars
in the bank. what is the process that permits that great
a leap in personal wealth in a single generation?

i do not know and more importantly i honestly dont know
which political party will ensure its continuance. do you?

what if one week before the election, when asked
a question about the candidates, president bush said
"the choice in this election is clear. the good material life
we live here, where any man and any woman can exceed
their parents standard of life, has been made possible
by war. yes it has. there has not been a single day
in the life of any living american that we have not been
at war some where and with some one. it's so sad!
but it's true and it's just the pirate's booty that's all!

"so the choice is clear and if you want to continue this
good life then vote for my party. if you want change,
now there's a mighty popular word these days, yes it
most certainly is. and if you want change and all that
goes with change, vote for the other side"

yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

CHINGALE

her name was claudia

the pier with its ferris wheel and roller coaster were
a short distance behind me as i slowly walked along
the seashore

a woman wearing mod glasses and having long
pressed hair trailing down her back yelled for a
boy and girl who were playing in ankle deep water.
we were a few feet apart when she yelled "chingale!"
curious i asked its meaning. she replied

"its like shit but not shit you know?"

her accented english sounded east l.a
valley girlish. she was attractive and
young and seemed willing to talk.
we engaged in the usual chit chat
the girl was her daughter the boy
a nephew

to my happy suprise they were quite
friendly and walking with them was an
out of the blue and very pleasant diversion

A PALER SHADE OF BLACK

procol harem

ray royer : guitar

david knights : bass

bill eyden : drums

matthew fisher : organ

keith reed : vocals

their first album " a whiter shade of pale " may 12 1967

they were an opening act for jimi hendrix later that year

i read a newspaper article by jesse jackson that calls
attention to the democrats neglect of a segment of
the american population. if my aging memory properly
recalls there were concerns about how this demographic
would fare in the coming economic turndown.
a more important question is what about
the population as a whole?

in a financial tsunami or hurricane where and what is
the justification of aiding one group over another
or the whole. especially if the others are floundering
as well

through my ex-wife i had an opportunity to see how the
other half lives. it turned out to be quite a shock.
in neighborhoods where security doors and barred
windows on homes or businesses did not exist and where
the quiet was not disturbed by news or police helicopters
most streets were devoid of life

early morning midday and late evening the ex-wife and i
would stroll the empty sidewalks and streets hand in hand.
again and again to her eventual irritation i would comment
on rarely seeing or passing another person. those who did
cross our path always were walking a dog or dogs.
it seemed to me as that act was the only way to get out
of the house

my ex-wife explained more than once that everyone
was working multiple jobs or attending school after work
or just too tired and stressed to move from the television or
computer monitor. there were only two expensive choices
for food shopping and gasoline sold at a noticible higher
price than in los angeles. it became clear that what this
affluent other half possessed was held tenuously

so again the question must be asked

how do you favor one group thats a paler shade of black
and ignore the other thats a whiter shade of pale?

A TALE OF HE AND SHE

on such an autumn day
with leaves all brown
and the sky dark grey

its early morning and rain is falling
he awakens and moves to get out of bed
she reaches to entwine him in her arms

she: baby dont go

he: dont go?

she: dont go cause i love you so

he: you love me so?

she: i do so dont go

he: and if i dont go?

she: you know

he: i know?

she: youre the best

he: the best?

she: best in the whole world

he: the whole world?

she: nobody does it better

he: no one?

she: ever never

he: never ever?

she: thats why i love you so

he: i know