Taos 1974

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lkwalker
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Re: Taos 1974

Post by lkwalker » Tue Sep 13, 2011 2:24 pm

It was almost twenty years since I last saw Frank, black and sweating and dusty sitting at a table made of splintery boards in that secret room of hell where we both felt strangely secure and safe. I thought of it because of the Great Difference. Here were Alfred and I, wearing every piece of clothes we owned, shivering violently in the New Mexico tundra- preparing for another day at work. So many shirts wore we that our arms stood out from our bodies like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. And yet still the howling banshees of the desert wind, 15 degrees below zero, penetrated every pore in our bodies. There was a 60 watt lightbulb burning in the '62 Opel Kadet to keep the oil from freezing and maybe even lessen the thickness of the crystal ice on the windows. It was still dark at 6:30 in the morning and the Opel glowed with a special, spiteful invitation. It tormented us and mocked us and reminded us both of the Cremation of Sam McGee. The red doors were affixed to the frame with surface mounted barn hinges owing to the many poles and fences we'ed encountered after a thousand nights of drinking whiskey at Woodie's. The doors, as always, were frozen shut. Alfred picked up a two by four that was always leaned against the fender for for its special purpose. And with a mighty effort he unleashed a blow against the driver's side door. The tremendous thump performed it's purpose and the ice that bound it so securely shut gave way and the door opened just a crack. With his boot he finished the job and the door groaned and creaked and slowly opened with a surly smirk. Alfred was a mountain of a man with a long white beard that by itself might have convinced a less ornery door to open itself. But not this one. This one required convincing.
"If you don't think to good, don't think too much." Yogi

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Re: Taos 1974

Post by lkwalker » Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:11 pm

Chapter 4
Frank and Rocky


So here I am, sent to Frankie by the angel for ink. I walk into Frankie's hell and he's there, lost in thought at his table. Never even noticed that I walked in. My first thought was, 'Jesus, maybe I better come back later.'. And then he suddenly turns to me. "Good morning, little Yiddel," he says. His smile tells me I'm in good stead. "Yiddel? Holy shit, Frankie," I say. I'm feeling a certain peculiar, familiar shame about a little silver box Are we and Frankie done?

My mother, whom I deeply loved, always made me wear a thing called a mezuzah. That's a sort of Jewish charm, a necklace, a little silver box containing a prayer, with the six pointed star embossed on the front for all to see. when I came of age, of a certain age, I told her, "Mum, I don't want to wear this thing any more. The Irish kids all make fun of it. Jesus, I may as well be wearing a yellow star on my lapel.". Her answer to me, an eleven year old son of the Shoah was short, pointed and emphatic. "That is why you'll wear it till the day you take your last breath." There was no retort possible. That statement carried he finality of law. And I never again raised the issue.

But in the depths of hades that Frank and I inhabited, hot as it was, everything was revealed. even though I was in the habit of stuffing that unlucky charm into my shirt, to conceal it from who, I knew not, in hell it was revealed upon my wet tee shirt.

My mysterious shame overwhelmed for a moment. I thought to say, "Sorry, Mr Marciano...". But never did i have to because from the gut and the heart of that man came this: "I love Yiddels. My best bud in the Corps was a Jewish cracker from Georgia. That's why I even know the word."

"Rocco loves em too."

The air that had left my collapsed lungs and heart returned to me in a rush- a rush that I remember to this day as if it had happened this morning.

Chapter 5 or so
Romans and Jews in accordance with Frankie Marciano

Stay tooned...
"If you don't think to good, don't think too much." Yogi

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Re: Taos 1974

Post by lkwalker » Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:33 pm

"Guidos like Jews.," said Frankie Marciano. "why I don't know. But I have some ideas. Maybe it's because all their mothers have mustaches. Or maybe it's more than that.". And he laughed a deep laugh reserved for revelation. And I laughed too.

"But I think it has to to with the soul of the Romans.". This I had never heard before. All of my teachings, all of my knowledge of life, had led me to a cul de sac with Jews on the closed end and Romans on the advance, swords in hand. Could there possibly be another side to the story? It was only my love and admiration of the Great Marcianos that even allowed me to consider the possibility.
"If you don't think to good, don't think too much." Yogi

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Re: Taos 1974

Post by lkwalker » Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:37 pm

The Great Conundrum

Romans. Jesus Christ, hadn't they passed in history 2000 ago?
"If you don't think to good, don't think too much." Yogi

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Re: Taos 1974

Post by lkwalker » Tue Sep 13, 2011 6:21 pm

The answer to that question is complicated. Hadn't it been the Romans who invented Bread and Circus? And isn't that America? Wasn't Rocky the greatest of all gladiators? And if the sides at Mosadda had been reversed, wouldn't it have been the Romans who fell on their swords? Are we more the same more than different?

Questions, questions. These occurred to me even before Frankie told me his truth. The sweaty little Yiddel waited for the historical conclusions of the brother, the cousin, the uncle... of the Heavyweight Champion of the World....
"If you don't think to good, don't think too much." Yogi

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Re: Taos 1974

Post by lkwalker » Mon Dec 05, 2011 6:28 pm

I love my children. Who also love me. Love. Absurdity. Fuckit.
"If you don't think to good, don't think too much." Yogi

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Re: Taos 1974

Post by WatchDog » Fri Dec 30, 2011 2:05 pm

lkwalker wrote:OK. I retract it.
Image
"To Uncle Frankie, Love Rocco."
O_O Rocky Marciano

One of my Favorite Boxers.

He was the King when he did box
Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people. Carl Sagan

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lkwalker
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Re: Taos 1974

Post by lkwalker » Fri Dec 30, 2011 2:08 pm

King of the known universe. No doubt.
"If you don't think to good, don't think too much." Yogi

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Re: Taos 1974

Post by TraumaT » Fri Dec 30, 2011 6:32 pm

.
Last edited by TraumaT on Sun Jan 01, 2012 3:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Taos 1974

Post by lkwalker » Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:39 pm

yes. and maybe she has. that i hope.
"If you don't think to good, don't think too much." Yogi

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