A TALE TOLD TWICE


i turn the radio on

"....you've got your diamonds you've got your pretty clothes
the chauffeur drives your car and you let everybody know
but don't play with me because you're playing with fire...."

i turn the radio off

all the windows and the front door are open and i can see a
multitude and variety of crimson to green foilage shaking
in the wind. she comes from her bedroom down the stairs
walks to the kitchen table and picks up a stack of mail

i say " babe youre playing with fire "

she is thumbing the letters " are you talking to me ?"

i reply " babe youre really playing with fire and if you dont
watch out youre going to end up like nicole "

she is reading a postcard " who is nicole ?"

i look at her legs her gold striped miniskirt her breasts
and her mane of long thick hair

" youre playing with fire babe and you and me are going to
end up like o.j and nicole okay ?"

she turns the postcard over then puts it and the rest of
the mail on the table

" baby " she says and walks over to sit beside me on our sofa

she coos again " baby " her lips a few inches away

" baby you really dont want to kill me " she whispers
our lips meeting for the briefest moment " do you ?"

then kisses me again

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i turn the radio on

"....you've got your diamonds you've got your pretty clothes
the chauffeur drives your car and you let everybody know
but don't play with me because you're playing with fire...."

i turn the radio off

all the windows and the front door are open and i can see a
multitude and variety of crimson to green foilage shaking
in the wind. she comes from her bedroom down the stairs
walks to the kitchen table and picks up a stack of mail

i say " babe remember the story i told you i posted on a dating forum ?"

she is thumbing the letters " what about it ?"

i reply " it got deleted "

reading a postcard she says " oh yeah why ?"

i look at her legs her gold striped miniskirt her breasts
and her mane of long thick hair " dont know babe no reason given "

she turns the postcard over then puts it and the rest of the mail
on the table

" baby " she says and walks over to sit beside me on our sofa

she coos again " baby " her lips a few inches away

" baby you really dont want to leave me " she whispers
our lips meeting for the briefest moment " do you ?"

then kisses me again

WHAT IS TO BE DONE ?

good evening folks in the studio with me is wen ho lei
my economics teacher during college days

me: teacher lets dive right in and ask the big question
what is to be done?

he: yes that is the question and of course the answer is
adaptation. it is the only answer and has been so since man
descended from the tree. america and change are synonymous.
in less than three hundred years a vast expanse of land was
transformed from a place where millions of bison and buffalo
were free to roam and where man could freely move from place
to place and live in the natural world to an advanced
technological society

me: constant change in a short period of time

he: constant change. the fermentation is non stop

me: why is that?

he: how else could it be? there has been and will always be
competition. competition between regions and people.
this produces adaptation. the will to go on rather than kill
or be killed in a vain attempt to maintain staying in place.
those who adapt will enjoy life. those who dont will not

me: teacher you are still the master of clarity and simplicity

he: and you are a well taught student

GUYS AND DOLLS


dad looks in the fridge and takes a beer from the
bottom shelf. billy calls " dad can you come here "
dad opens the beer picks up a bowl of chips and
walks to billys room " yeah billy whats up ?"

" dad i want to move out at the end of the month " replies billy

dad says " yeah where you moving to ?"

" near the beach with a couple of room mates " says billy

dad says " how much are you going to pay ?"

" six fifty a month and split the electricity and other stuff " replies billy

dad takes a gulp of beer and munches several chips then says

" so about seven hundred a month huh ?"

billy says " yeah something like that pretty reasonable
dont you think ?"

dad takes another drink and says " listen billy ive got a better idea.
why dont you stay here and pay four a month and put that extra money
towards the future ?"

billy frowns then says " but dad i want to be on my own plus you
and mom will have your own privacy too "

dad eats another couple of chips and says " our own privacy ?
what do you think we do when your not here, run around
the house butt naked shouting fuck me ! fuck me !?"

billy says " dad !"

dad replies " besides this is your home if you want to bring
a couple of dolls over bring them over ! youre a young man
youre suppose to sow some wild oats and stuff "

billy replies " but dad !?"

dad sets the beer can on a bookshelf and says " look billy
its better economically for you and us, why give money
to strangers ? lets keep it in the family and if you want to
smoke your marijuana you can do it right at your home.
why when i first met your mom she could whip up a hell
of a batch of hash brownies !"

billy blurts out " but dad what if im gay ?"

dad picks up the beer takes another gulp eats two more
chips then says " gay ! billy thats even better youll really
save money now because guys are way cheaper than dolls !"

billy says " dad !!"

IN THE BEGINNING


i walked in and stood against the rear wall. a man and
woman each holding microphones were standing about
thirty feet away. a woman near them asked a question

" why are you in this lifestyle ?"

the woman replied

" that's the wrong question. i mean we're brought up
in a judeochristian country and we've all been to church
and everybody around us has been and our parents and
so on. and when you're there what happens ? you're being
humiliated. a man is standing raised above you and the
literal subtext of everything he says to you is

" sinner ! fornicator ! whore ! "

the man spoke

" look at the book. look at how it starts. in the beginning
the world is made perfect without man and woman.
but they appear and what happens ? sinning. fornicating.
whoring. the descent of the world begins. and we're
taught this from the earliest age. all of us are taught this
and our parents and their parents before us "

the woman continued

" my friends can you see it ? we're taught this and it is
the basis of our culture and who we really are. we are
people who want and need to be humiliated. look at
what we do to ourselves and each other. so no, you're
asking the wrong question. you really should ask

" how can you not be in this lifestyle, in one form or another "?

WHY OBAMA 08 ?


in my long ago younger days there was a
teevee program called " the outer limits "

it began with the screen going blank
then a deep voice saying

" do not attempt to adjust your television
we control the horizontal we control the vertical
you are now in the outer limits "

very spooky long ago stuff

but not as spooky as this current era

the question everyone refuses to ask is how in god's name
is obama the democratic nominee ? why is this happening ?

when the campaign began it was a forgone conclusion
hilary would chosen. she was beside her husband bill
while he guided the nation through a period of peace
and prosperity. how could anyone else even be considered ?

and with eights years of republican management as an
indictment the election would be for show only.
a historical landslide never to be duplicated !

but instead where do we find ourselves ?

we find ourselves with a complete novice with
a foreign name. a nominee that would be an excellent choice
in a nation on the economic upswing, and a president who
would be quite persuasive in convincing america that
prosperity is just around the corner

however

every and all indicators report that the good ship lollipop
has struck a chocolate bar and that we are heading ten
deep fathoms to the gates of hell. yet we want to take
the cabin boy place him at the ship's helm and say

" son, our fate is in your hands "

very very spooky stuff

TRADER JOES


yesterday i paid $81.45 to fill up my 1969 impala 4-door.
it's avocado green with dark green leather interior and is
a great drinker of gas. so in the interest of saving both
the environment and my wallet i rode the bus to a home
depot in manhattan beach, a coastal suburb of los angeles

i need to replace a couple of torn pulldown shades.
waiting in the checkout line i started to fell strange
and leaving the store i realized i had eaten half a brownie
this morning. a momentary wave of panic hit me which i
shrugged off and walked two blocks to trader joe's where
i stood in another line with two liters of olive oil and
a package of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

a very attractive woman is in front of me. she's dressed
in a short frilly kind of dress, a babydoll. it was popular
during the late 70s. she wore stylish glasses and heels
and had long blond hair. i thought to myself " good god
in heaven will you look at this woman !"

when i was a younger man i would have racked
my brain in an effort to say something clever.
now, in later years, its a snap. " excuse me i need
a beautiful woman like you to come home to.
are you available ?"

i know that sounds lame and corny. but it works
sometimes. even at trader joes

THESE SOUR TIMES


i'd just finished cleaning beach sand from my feet and
sandals and had thrown the towel into the car's trunk
when i hear a woman's voice

" do you know how to get to abbot kinney? "

i turn towards her

" i parked my car on abbott kinney and don't remember
how to get there "

she's wearing a short white dress with big yellow and
red dots, a green blouse and a beige fisherman's hat
over twin ponytailed hair. after a moment's thought

" yeah, infact i do, it's several blocks away "

and point down the street. she puts her left hand on her hip,
looks down the block and frowns a bit

" is it that far? "

i close my car's trunk

" it's a couple minutes drive, may i offer you a ride? "

she smiles

" would you? that'd be great! "

i unlock and open the front passenger door, let her in,
walk to the driver's side get in, start the car and off we go
she's excited about obama. i ask why

" because he's about hope you know? and that's what
we need because without hope everything's hopeless
you know? "

i glance at her legs

" really? what about hillary? "

she laughs

" hillary? that clucking hen? that's all she is a clucking hen! "

i look at her face, she has freckles and green eyes

" a clucking hen, huh? "

i laugh with her as we reach abbott kinney

" there's my car "

she points to a blue honda minivan. i stop besides it

" listen i'm looking for a beautiful woman like you
for a lover, are you available? "

she smiles and squeezes my arm

" oh aren't you sweet! i'm really not into men anymore,
but if i was "

she kisses the tips of her right fingers and gently
touches them to my face. i wilt like a flower and
weakly say

" well have a nice day "

as she gets out of my car

" thanks again "

she brightly says

" and remember we have to have hope and
hopefulness you know? "

she gets into her car and starts the engine.
i wave and drive off. as i approach venice boulevard
the light changes from green to yellow to red. waiting
behind two men on a motorcycle, i turn on the radio.
a woman is singing in a warm syrupy voice

" ....hidden lies, forbidden fruit, covered eyes, naked truth,
it's so true, nobody loves me in these sour times "

IT'S FOUR TWENTY


after a meal of black and brown rice, garlic marinated
chicken, two bananas, a mango and tumbler of nam cha,
i leave my home

west to broadway, south to and across slauson and
on bus 745 where i take a window seat near the rear.
a video monitor plays a car insurance commercial then
yesterdays news and weather report

two short chubby teenagers dressed in gothwear board
the bus at washington boulevard. they seat themselves
in front of me and after a short conversation in spanglish
the girl in the aisle seat takes a cellphone from her friend,
flips it open, pushes a button, waits several moments
then loudly says

" hello is this chuy? that fucking loser chuy? ha! ha! ha!
i heard that little gringa bitch left you! ha! ha! ha!
no!! fuck you!!! i hope the puta gave you aids and you die
you fucking loser!!!! "

she flips the phone closed and bursts into laughter with
her friend

i exit at the grand central market stop, cross the street,
walk a couple of blocks south and wait for the bus 720.
after fifteen minutes or so it arrives. i board and sit
opposite the middle door. somewhere past vermont
avenue i fall asleep and don't awaken till the bus comes
to the 405 freeway stop

waiting in line to exit is a middle aged filipino woman.
she looks at me as if studying a bronze sculpture in
the getty museum. suddenly she smiles, revealing
gold capped dentures. from her sweater pocket she pulls
a pamphlet and hands it to me before exiting the bus.
it's titled "jesus saves". i consider dropping it onto the floor,
but instead stuff it inside my fleece's lower right pocket

finally in santa monica, i get off the bus at fifth street,
walk down wilshire to ocean ave and use the elevated
concrete footpath to cross pacific coast highway.
as it's cold and a fog bank is a short distance offshore,
i zip up my fleece and place my hands in its pockets.
after a urinal stop i trudge across the beach and place
myself cross legged on the sand near the water's edge

because of the chilly weather there are very few people out.
waves lazily come to shore and recede while seagulls
and other birds cry out and compete for any scraps of food.
i partially unzip my fleece and fish a philly blunt and
lighter from my corduroy shirt pocket. a few slow
deep draws later the chill seems to disappear

i notice a youthful looking woman coming towards me.
stopping a dozen or so feet away she stiffs the air. she
walks over, sits besides me, and with a goofy happy
smiley look says

" hi my name's victoria, but call me vicky,
would you like to share? "