The Things I Saw

The Things I Saw

                Dirty bar and me sitting in it watching that day go by. Looking to my left I see old bear drinking his oranges, not a care in the damn world and I say to myself “Damn.” This world keeps on spinning us passengers all unawares. Looking to my right, that old bartender looking like something out of a silent movie, a western one at that, asks if I want another, and I nod and he nods and that whole process repeats once more with him pouring and I wondering if I should offer thanks. I do of course and take in what’s before me, it's bitter but I make do because the lord knows we can’t complain about what’s made free. And still that bear sits drinking his oranges.

                Getting up I wobble to the old jukebox and ask it for a song, and of course it complies and we would all get to dancing, if we knew how to dance, but still we get something going and it’s all rather fine. I’m feeling good listening to that box spout its funny tune and I begin wondering just what it would take to make such a funny machine emit such funny sounds. Caught in that reverie there’s a tap on my shoulder and looking to my left I spy Old Dracula smiling. Dracula’s smiling his fang smile, and I imagine my smile might be a sort of a wild fang smile itself, we laugh off the good times together at the usual table and people come and go wondering just what kind of people two stranger regulars like us would get up and about to talk about on a Saturday sunset such as the one we’re now viewing.

               

 And that was fine, because we were fine all thinking Hemmingway and wondering just what that old man must be up to and what he would say, and what we would say back. For a while we decided that moving beats still, and getting up that old silent cowboy sepia humming bartender put the whole damn bar into motion. It was strange but it was also fine and me and Dracula found it mighty funny how the whole situation had played out

It wasn’t till later, long after that whole reverie of feeling and motion watching the sun sink into that hidden hole in Ireland, that the others arrived. It was a tough shift to go from something so deep to something so crazy, but it was also fine with old Ben Franklin making speeches and the rest of the congregation shocked into listening while preoccupied with little events here and there of their own.

And it was wild but it was also fine, me and Dracula now joined by Mumrah, now off from work,began discussing whatever of Ben’s thoughts most peaked our interest and there were a great many things to speak about. We spoke and we listened and we spoke again and noticing that Ben was done, we called him over to our table to discuss whatever tickled our fine fancies.

And it was fine us laughing hard at one another’s foolishness and looking off to my left what did I spy, but Old Fred Bear still drinking his oranges. I called him over and together we laughed and laughed and laughed. Oh the things I saw and what I could tell you.