ANOTHER UNWANTED OPINION

ANOTHER UNWANTED OPINION

        ... for bill withers

"here's what i think," i overheard at a bar one night
early april two thousand twenty

... risking my life (again) for human connection
in the midst of a plague

"i think they can not control one single thing

... the flow of information

the flow of human beings across boundaries

the fluctuation between classes affects all classes

... so many things ..."

somone interrupted from across the room, "you're an idiot!"

"i am not - i am drunk - there is a difference"

... then they continued

i stopped listening

& looked at the room

it was the first time i was outside of my apartment

for the passed six weeks i have been "quarantined"

& the person who resides above jumps

now, five or six times for at least half-an-hour

... every day

it was a pleasure to listen to something smooth

to be surrounded by wood - i like this place

i like to sit on its couches, recline & read in the middle of the day

watching the city drive by unobstructed

it is strange to the see the building across the street

through the windows on the facade

because the parking spaces are empty, during the day

they are, of course, still talking

... that is what they do

"there is a difference," they insisted

"here's what i think ..."

 interrupted by "number forty-six"

& that was me

i was gratefully spared
another beating

& went home
with my burger & shake
in a bag

to momma from the child you threw away & i later drowned

it has taken a while to find a memory i cherish

i have been trying for years to find one happy moment in that orange room, or the green room, or the yellow kitchen, or the pink & yellow bathroom

or the blue bathroom upstairs that was yours & yours alone

my room was wooden ... the ceilings were angled ... it was a good place for music

i remember you sitting on the orange & white couch in the room with one whole wall of cork & a panoramic view of a private golf course & a rose bush (these we never saw because the curtains never opened)

i remember the whole family watching this concert 
i remember you had tissues in your hand from a box with some complimentary pattern on it that adequately accompanied the encyclopedia set on the wood book shelf

you cried

i remember

i told amber & malia i had no good memories
i lied to them (again)

i have one & this is it

that was a good moment
& this is an amazing song

i miss you momma

erik