The Wedding of Jack-Patti-Sweet and Mandy

 With apologies to Jack Kerouac, Patti Smith, Larry Norman, the band Sweet.....and to Mandy.                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                                                                    so anyway there i was large majestic victorian house next to the y moaning seething breathing 1976 and 20 piss factory of a job huff huff huff she crawled into my bed like a cockroach the words she said got into my head like a waterfall she had big bell levis wife beater shirt man man man tight tight i loved her in the sad morning eight track tape player wired to a car battery boom boom boom downstairs neighbors neighbors to the side everybody square square square bitching screaming met some cats and chicks street folks paul jerry his wife with a collection of weirdos and bee bopps straight outta heaven and hell beer weed acid soapers laughter tears tears tears piss factory job huff huff huff 64 mustang was my chariot exhaust wasted fumes buzz buzz dizzy dark hair to her shoulders slim young fun boom boom my jeans were tight loved a knife and buckle fight sorry Mr. Norman wire frame glasses man oh man i dug her she dug me together with jim and munch in his gremlin with paul we made 3 we kissed soothingly softly sweetly sadly as the grem tossed about the sad country lanes she came to me in a skirt of green net sewn over w/flat metallic circles which dangled and flashed and when her memory visits on a pillow of sweat with toss toss turn and my hair is cropped craving covering i remember member remember member making love to her sweetly that sad morning two lost angels hung on a city shelf   

Stoney Smoothie Charlie and Me

I met them when I worked at the hospital laundry. Had I known what life held in store for me I would have stayed there and retired. But I was young and knew no better. My official title was, Wash Man. Sounds menial and even funny but in the world of laundry you were top dog. A roofer buddy made fun of me a lot. He said he had a man's job and I was nothing. I got him a job with me when he was laid off one winter. He said, shit buddy, you work hard. I said. No shit.

Stoney was born with a handicap. Not sure what caused it. His left arm was withered, he walked with a limp, and he was totally blind in one eye and could not see out of the other. Sorry for the platitude. It did not slow him down however. Worked his ass off and he trained me and we became good friends. He rode a moped, dreaming it was a Panhead. And. And. And.

Smoothie was Stoney's buddy and and that's how I met him. What a character. Short fellow with red hair and beard. Loved him dearly. He had the look of a leprechaun and I don't mean that in a bad way. And funny. Shit man he could make you laugh. He was ill. But are we all not? Who among us....is....not.....ill. Found out later. Much much later. He was in and out of hospitals the years we travelled this rock and filled each other's spirits. But that was long ago. Long. Ago...............

Charlie was in a wheelchair. Never heard why. Never came up. Kept a towel in his lap. You'd go to visit him at his apartment and there was laughter ahoy! Laugh...laugh...laugh. He had a speech impediment as well. Loved him to death. Never said a cross word to any living being be it man-dog, woman-cat, or child with lollipop.

So anyway......the world spun and time past in the hamlet of Mansburg. We ran the bars together. Laughed and cried together. Held each other up and knocked each other down. Fell into and out of relationships. Threw up in alleys. Listened to music. Talked....Talked....Talked.

I think of them often today and I'm not sure I'll ever find love like that again. Pure. But memories can be translucent, myopic and sometimes, deceiving. We each have them but 'tis like the ebb and flow of ocean tide.

Lottery

Who would've thunk it? I made it to 94. And counting. I always joked with my doctors that with my luck I'd live to 100. Sometimes, finding a new doc happens by way of sons and daughters taking over their father's practice. Other times, perhaps by lottery. I can't always remember. I took the meds they said would lengthen my life. I worried that they were just generating income. What are ya' gonna' do?  I've outlived everyone I knew.

I kept riding the whole time. Not a whole lot but a bit here and there. I'm fortunate that I no longer need an automobile. Could not afford one and the self-drivers make me nervous. Left turn crashes have greatly diminished and may even be non existent. I don't always pay attention.

The electric bikes came slowly and are no longer cost prohibitive. Like microwave ovens. First slowly introduced in the UK as law. I think. Required by law in the developed world. At least in my little one. Mine is relatively inexpensive with a range of 600 miles between recharges. It is light enough for me to handle.

I kept one of the internal combustion bikes. They were "Grandfathered" in for a bit in transition. I remember what the term means but don't wish to explain. The EFI bike got sold but I kept the carburetted UJM. They hold a lottery every year and on a closed off course us oldsters get to ride our dinosaures. I won this year! Yahoo! The oil for the old gal is difficult to find. The black market is your best bet. Expensive but I manage to budget it in by not eating for three days. Piece of cake. Har! The fuel is readily available and inexpensive. 'Splain that one to me?
.
This luxury was bestowed upon us through the good graces of the AMA. Suddenly, at least that is how it appeared to me, all those weary old slogans became null and void by the silent passings of 'leccy bikes at speed. The "Loud Pipes Save Lives" from the outlaw and the perceived outlaw communities and the "Loud Pipes Risk Rights" stance of the AMA no longer mattered. Cool with me! I can't stand to argue any more and can't barely even stand to talk to people and I've heard all the noise I care to hear.

For those that wish motor exhaust noise there are buds that comfortably fit in your ear. They are legal in some areas and illegal in others. Who cares? I heard a pup the other day use the overused and generationally selective term "Old School" talking about the buds. I guess helmets have devices for sound too. I don't really know how it works and what is available. I dig the silence of sailing. If need be my organic memory bank can boot up motor sounds AND all the damn music I've ever listened to. It is noisy in here!

You can even purchase 'leccy bikes that look like a Panhead, BSA Lightning, or a Vincent Black Shadow. Hell. I saw one last week that was a '69 Sandcast CB 750. These are esoteric and purchased by millionaires. I judge no one's ride. Some of them worked hard for their money and sacrificed.

Mine is quite cheap. Inexpensive
rather. I love her all the same.

Gotta' dash for now. Gonna' unplug the gal and take a blat.