The Oxford Man

The Man and the Canoe

The man in the panama hat and seersucker jacket came in one day to order a canoe for himself and his alcoholic friend. I knew they would not show up for the canoe ride. Alcoholics never show up for canoe rides, they cannot face the father of waters, or the waters of death, even with the chip in their pocket. I will be there however, for them, when they are ready.

Mississippi
is the father of waters, and it is also the water of death. Eventually we all face Mississippi, but for the alcoholics it will be this weekend.

They feel too low for it.

But we will all meet. In Mississippi.

Then the one with the good voice came in. He had words to a song and wanted to do a duet with his alcoholic friend, but the words left him before they could sit at the cash register and belt them out.

Satan’s Disco

a.
This is the story about how the devil wanted to put together a disco band. First he went upon the earth and got Andy Gibb. Andy looked as lonely in hell as he did in life, so Satan went back and walked the earth and took Michael Jackson. Michael looked lonely in hell backstage, so Satan again walked the earth and this time took Farrah Fawcett to hang out backstage with them. They began to have better sets. They still looked a little slim so Satan came up and again walked the earth, and this time got Don Cornelius and a couple mountain lions to arrange the set pieces and put together a cohesive show. They still looked a little sideways so Satan again went into the world. And this time he got Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco. They felt they really had something good going, so Satan again went up to the world and got Robin Gibb. This is how the passing of all of them came to be. Who knew Satan was such a disco fan, but there you go.
b.
Satan built a disco for them. It is in a red spongy hollowed out place near the roof of the mouth of hell. The mouth of hell is a great place to hang a disco ball. And whenever they look lonely, Satan allows pets, he brought in a little tiny elephant for them just the other day. And Farrah looks fabulous, just like she did on the poster back in her heyday, the one that America fell in love with. And Don Cornelius is there, helping them get their set together. So do not feel too terribly bad for them.

If it is easy to say it is not worth saying.
There, I said it.

Where does it come from? For me it is when I barely sleep
Hiding in a corner, it is a child I can barely see in the dark at the end of my bed,
I am again a baby in a crib and it is in the corner of my room,
Just out of sight. I know others see it differently
Or not at all or maybe no one does.
But I barely see it, not fully, it is a child, maybe the child-me,
Who would wake up on Saturday morning
(Rocky and Bullwinkle, Lone Ranger and Tarzan, Shazam and Jason of Star Command,
that was the lineup)
And be commanded to run outside into the bright suburban day and play,
But instead I would hide upstairs,
And seek a soul in the eyes of a Luke Skywalker action figure.
Other times I barely see its face,
It is pulpy blue, maybe part Mr Moose from Captain Kangaroo and
Part hippo from Banana Splits.
But there it is, I know it is though it is barely there
And I listen to it, in the shadows it hides.
I know where to find it, where I sleep, at the corner of sleep and fear and dream.

Like a yahoo I keep you close at all times,
Too close to know.

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There are hard truths, and there are soft truths,
Softer than a baby’s skull at a softball game.

Your soft truth is to know there are three who
have full count of the thing you

did:
You, your God, and me.