TerryWalstrom

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Posts by TerryWalstrom

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  11

  Psychedelic Jezebel

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  psychedelic jezebel _________.

  she’s psychedelic jezebel.

  it says so on her vw bus, tie-dye blouse, and her handmade jewelry.. there she is now in her garden; child of the 60’s; a cinder from a long ago passed comet.she shoots me the “peace sign”.

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  TerryWalstrom

  I added a quick one today; some guy sitting next to me. Showed me his fists!
  He said his name was "Spyder."
• 
  5

  “My fightin’ name was Spyder.”

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a huge man to my right has leaned in.

  why do strangers talk to me without provocation on my part?

  he is an enormous man--a man of color.

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  TerryWalstrom

  He was a real guy. More real than real.

  I don't know what the deal was or who he was.
  Maybe it's like clouds. They appear and drop something on you and they're gone.
  He was the weather; unpredictable.
  
  I probably should have spoken to him by way of conversation. I can do that, ya know.
  I just was...I dunno. Flummoxed?
  
  Every person we see is a story. Not all stories are tellable. This one barely is.
• 
  5

  “My fightin’ name was Spyder.”

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a huge man to my right has leaned in.

  why do strangers talk to me without provocation on my part?

  he is an enormous man--a man of color.

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  TerryWalstrom

  “My fightin’ name was Spyder.”

  A huge man to my right has leaned in. Why do strangers talk to me without provocation on my part?
  He is an enormous man--a man of color. Lines in his face are open novels spinning tales of punishment. Puffy lids and yellowing sockets blink at the bright sunshine outside on the patio at Starbucks. His age? I’m clueless. My guess? About a millennium.
  
  

  “These my bodyguards.” Spyder regards his fists like a jeweler appraising a diamond setting.

  He lifts the left and swivels the wrist. A half inch from my chin it stops. Well!
  
  “This is ‘Oh Lord.” It floats in front of me like a bloated corpse in a dark river.

  The other one whistles at a blur and arrives in place of the first.

  “And this is ‘Have Mercy.’ A double murder, I suppose.
  
  He starts laughing. Shaking his head at some cryptic interior joke then turns back to his own table and sips his coffee.
  
  I remind you, I haven’t even spoken word one!
  All is silent. For awhile.

  Spyder turns again. He’s facing me.
  
  (Here we go…)
  
  “You alright. Ya know?”

  (Is he asking me or telling me?)
  
  “You too.” (What else should I say?)
  
  He laughs again. Turns away and sips.

  Finally, he rises on staunch limbs and exhales a long and slow stream of carbon dioxide.

  
  

  “That’s what I’m talkin’ about!”

  He shambles over to a vehicle that appears to be some kind of Humvee and climbs inside.
  'Perfect.' I think to myself. 'Dead solid perfect.'

  
  

  I’m a writer, so...
  Here it is.

  _______________
  
  
• 
  47

  I am a Living Time Machine

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  which world is this?_________________when the doctor pulled my screaming body out of mom all those 7 decades ago, i landed in a post-wwii world.it was--compared to today's world--an alien planet.. the world i live in today has nothing in common with the world in which i grew up.. there were no cell phones back then--there were black telephones with a dial-tone and an operator who placed your call.

  everywhere you found telephone booths!

  a call was a nickle.where did all those telephone booths go?i dunno.where did my whole world go?i dunno.. tv sets were huge boxes with tubes and small screens.

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  TerryWalstrom

  On FACEBOOK, I notice attitudes, worries, fears being expressed in the context of Current Events which gives me pause to reflect.

  Having lived through the Korean War, the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, Federal imprisonment, the run up to 1975's faux-mageddon, race riots, and dozens of wars, insurgencies, terrorism and such...
  BECAUSE I LIVED during all these events and because each carried predictions of DOOM--I have desensitized to crying "wolf" by news agencies, propagandists, religious mouthpieces, etc.
  
  I try to reassure everybody (I'm old, so nobody listens anyway) North Korea and Russia will NOT engage in a nuclear war with the USA because it is all bullshit played out in MEDIA for click bait, increased ratings, and for Eisenhower's Military Industrial Complex ("Defense contractors") and other billionaires to have plenty of $$ and business to carry them through in style :)
  
  "Fool me once, shame on you..." that old saying begins.

  "Fool me twice, shame on my..." it continues.
  I would add, "I'm old enough so that I shouldn't let anybody fool me ever again."
• 
  6

  A POEM (inspired by Bullwinkle Moose)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  flowers___________flowers don't have legs, and cannot run about.

  flowers simply never make a fist.. flowers do not whisper, and they seldom ever shout, flowers will not put you on their list.__.

  dahlias don’t pay income tax or drive a maserati.

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  TerryWalstrom

  There were a few children's programs on TV actually aimed at adults. Rocky and Bullwinkle was one of the most charming; still fresh today.
  
  I only lament that these haven't been remastered for better quality and preserved.
  If they have--I'd love to know where they can be found.
  Anybody?
  
  You see, I think children learn a certain kind of sensibility/sense of humor gradually, depending on what they're exposed to and learn to enjoy.
  
  A couple of nights ago (not to change the conversation to radically) my grown son and I watched Blazing Saddles at a local Movie Tavern. I'd never seen the film.
  The year it came out (1974) I was busy moving from Texas to California and I had plenty occupying my consciousness.
  
  Anyway...
  Seeing it for the very first time--I was gobsmacked at how deliberately provocative this film *seems* because of Political Correctness. The "N" word is everywhere.
  Yes, Richard Pryor helped write the script--so, what do you expect? Right?
  But...
  In the mouth of white people, even in comedic historical context, it was quite jarring.
  If we wonder at the lingering mindset of racism, I don't think we can excuse the proliferation of "racism for comedy" influences on people my age, over a long tradition of saying bad things to get a laugh.
  ___
  Rocky and Bullwinkle (to get back on topic) was a delightful oasis in the field of children's entertainment because of the lack of mean-spirited silliness.
  
  I don't like talking philosophy and morality very much when it comes to humor or movies, actually. Yet--in this instance--apparently I had some reservations.
  Your mileage may vary.
• 
  6

  A POEM (inspired by Bullwinkle Moose)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  flowers___________flowers don't have legs, and cannot run about.

  flowers simply never make a fist.. flowers do not whisper, and they seldom ever shout, flowers will not put you on their list.__.

  dahlias don’t pay income tax or drive a maserati.

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  TerryWalstrom

  FLOWERS
  ___________
  Flowers don't have legs, and cannot run about.
  Flowers simply never make a fist.

  Flowers do not whisper, and they seldom ever shout,
  Flowers will not put you on their list.
  __

  Dahlias don’t pay income tax or drive a Maserati.
  Goldenrod won’t cruise along the highway.

  Jonquils don’t solve Rubik’s cube or holiday in Maui.
  Moon Orchids seldom sail the evening skyway.
  __

  Violets aren’t violent, though pine trees can be knotty.
  Kissing without Tulips is absurd.

  In ancient Rome, the Four O’clock was oft confused with IV.
  Bird of Paradise is not a bird!
  __

  Men aspire to greatness while flowers strive for color.
  A Daffodil in sunshine boasts success.

  Men will brag of power by the hour, but they're duller than a Peony
  with penchant to impress.
  __

  Hummingbirds and honey bees may never wear out welcome,
  nor August afternoons of summer rain.

  A riot among Hollyhocks or wild Gardenia bedlam,
  by contrast with a soccer match, is sane.
  
  *This is why
  I LOVE FLOWERS!
  __
  A poem by Terry Walstrom inspired by Bullwinkle Moose
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv1L-8f2erg
  _____
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieOGZtGUjRQ
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  4

  CAWS for CONCERN (Edgar the Crow gives fair warning)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  caws for concern!

  malone.

  (a vagrant escapee from a butterfly net and he's on starbucks' patio jabbering non-stop at me!).

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  TerryWalstrom

  CAWS for CONCERN!
  

  He says he's B.G. Malone.
  (A vagrant escapee from a butterfly net and he's on Starbucks' patio jabbering non-stop at me!)

  Bee Gee is carrying a cheap guitar held together with lots of duct tape.
  His baseball cap, dark glasses, and grizzled 'old prospector' beard is stubbly salt and pepper colored.
  He has an annoying twang in his vocal delivery, like the love child of Buck Owens and Gabby Hayes. (Look em' up, youngsters.)
  
  

  He shouts at his own body parts, snapping commands to his knees:
  "Bend, damn ya--BEND!"

  
  
  He's been jabbering non-stop for ten minutes looking in my direction--as though--I am interested. Hint: I am not; except as an object of writing just now.

  He's ended a few 'sentences' with the inexplicable: 'That possum's on the stump, fer sure.'
  I'm now the wiser for having Bee Gee explain to me about his hopefully estranged girlfriend, "Her heart is a thumpin' gizzard."
  
  

  His best friend ran off with her and he's an 'egg suckin' dog.'
  
  Apparently, he had 'done gone playin' music at a local tavern' when he left the two of them alone. What happened next was this.
  "The two of them got busier than a cat coverin' crap on a marble floor."
  I hope I don't know what that means!
  
  

  So far, he hasn't asked me any questions. I may not even really be visible. I wish the reverse were true!

  Oh, Sweet Jeezus! He' pulled out a three-foot-long flag pole with a rebel flag! He's swatting bees with it.

  This explains and clears up a mystery for me.
  
  About five minutes before Bee Gee showed up in my sacred space, EDGAR the wonder CROW (This crow has been coming around for over a year. I named him, observe him, and write about his antics.) had been screaming in crow language, five sharp "Caw Caw Caw Caw Caws."

  He was giving either I or his fellow fledges a 'Head's Up!"

  EDGAR is on a nearby pole right now watching my misery and discomfort.

  Why do I suspect he's enjoying it?
  

  ______
  
  I live in the South, in Fort Worth, and I've heard my share of colloquial and folk expressions. I have never heard what's coming out of Bee Gee's bewhiskered old mouth before!
  
  I'm writing them down as fast as he comes out with them!
  I posted them on Facebook earlier today, like a stenographer, as fast as I could:
  
  More Bee Gee Malone observations:
  "He’s so cheap he wouldn’t give a nickel to see Jesus ridin’ a bicycle."
  "I couldn’t buy a hummingbird on a string for a nickel."
  AND...the very disturbing:
  "Those pants were so tight I could see her religion."
  This guy should be grabbed by scientists and studied in a laboratory.
  He doesn't stop talking!
  More wild and weird folk banter:
  He doesn't know whether to "check his ass or scratch his watch."
  He said he's "as confused as a fart in a fan factory."
  This next one is beyond anything I've ever heard:
  "Happier than ol' Blue layin' on the porch chewin' on a big ol' catfish head."
  Bee Gee's former best friend: "He's so dumb, he could throw himself on the ground and miss."
  He's still at it!
  "I feel like I been 'et by a wolf and sh** off a cliff."
  ____
  YAAAY! Bee Gee just got up and went inside next door, shouting to his arms, telling them to pull--dammit-pull. I feel sorry for whoever is inside that business. (It'a Battery company.)
  
  He is back out. I think he was finally run off.
  
  Bee Gee squinted at the bright sun and offered one last bit of wisdom before he hobbled off down way.
  
  "It’s hotter than two rabbits screwin’ in a wool sock!"
  ____
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  20

  BUSTED by a GYPSY

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  busted by a gypsy__________________how do i know they are gypsy?i had some run-ins in l.a. many years back.

  had they worn a banner it wouldn't have been more obvious.the patriarch wore a special hat with a silver spangled band.i've seen the old gypsy with his cane and his scowl.

  he walks like a king or a panther at prowl.

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  TerryWalstrom

  I've been thinking much more about the concept of obeying RULES and LAWS.

  All those years as a JW crossing my T's and dotting my I's, and even stupidly going to prison--taking shit from stupid Elders...
  It isn't an excuse but a damned good reason for getting a warp in my grain about RULES.
  There's nothing wrong with rules or laws--the problem is with ME!
  
  Why do any of us get angry if a cop stops us for speeding? I dunno. What flies out of our mind is, "Don't you have any more SERIOUS crime to concern yourself with?"
  That's probably childish.

  I used to take my shoes off at work at the bookstore after hours when we had closed. The floor was concrete and I stood all day. I got busted for it. I was warned. Guess what? I did it again! I came real close to being fired.
  
  I thought that rule was incredibly stupid--but I kept my mouth shut (for once.)
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  11

  Psychedelic Jezebel

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  psychedelic jezebel _________.

  she’s psychedelic jezebel.

  it says so on her vw bus, tie-dye blouse, and her handmade jewelry.. there she is now in her garden; child of the 60’s; a cinder from a long ago passed comet.she shoots me the “peace sign”.

  1. 
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  TerryWalstrom

  Just for the record, my nethermost regions have no sacred script!
  If I were, at my age, to seek any tattoo at all it would probably be this one:
  
  
  
  
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  20

  BUSTED by a GYPSY

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  busted by a gypsy__________________how do i know they are gypsy?i had some run-ins in l.a. many years back.

  had they worn a banner it wouldn't have been more obvious.the patriarch wore a special hat with a silver spangled band.i've seen the old gypsy with his cane and his scowl.

  he walks like a king or a panther at prowl.

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  TerryWalstrom

  I sometimes think I'm too dumb to draw a breath and yet I'm surrounded by peers.
  Right now I'm sitting at a non-handicap table watching healthy people all around me sitting--you know where!
  If I had a cane and a black hat with a silver band, I know what I'd do!