Seattle Congestion (I-5, SR 167, Washington State)
I felt clogged internally, like dying. Still I traveled to Tacoma’s Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium where I met my first walrus named Issa. A second walrus named Buson swam up to the human handler named Basho. A third walrus named Shiki sat on AstroTurf, and turned pink. Basho said pink was normal unless Shiki turned platinum.
I inquired if Basho was named after the haiku master, and simply named the walruses after the other haiku masters, or if the walruses were named after haiku masters already, then Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium hired Basho to complete the quartet. Basho asked what haiku was. Basho blessed me, before I achooed.
MixMasters (Des Moines, Iowa)
Des Moines Library Association, organized in 1866, learned back in France, Paris erroneously congratulated Manet in public for Monet’s painting “Olympia”. Monet/Manet started off on wrong foot, same footstool. Manet, eight years Monet’s senior, decided to become best friends with Monet, so it would not matter, no way, if everybody confused Manet. Still stung.
Less throbbing. Painting each other at summer commune Argenteuil, rich Manet gave poor Monet money. Monet told anybody who pretended to like Impressionism quick check out Manet’s Realism, then disclosed Manet’s studio address. Imitation art enthusiasts started rapping on Manet’s front, side, rear windows. Shocked Manet told unshocked Monet. People love Manet, replied Monet.
Big Rock Interchange (Little Rock, Arkansas)
Folks in 1987 sang redemption songs during funerals. We did not like it then, or now. One woman listed co-workers she despised at an insurance company, all of whom remain alive. One man lowed “Lord” 14 lows in a row. That is new moon to full moon cycle, we reminded children next to us in pews.
Their papas glowered at us like Dr. Frankenstein. Did Victor really earn that medical degree? Shelley skipped that entire graduation ceremony. Should a single soul sing selfishly at our services, we will stain windows Thulian Pink, force pipe organs to morph into Yamaha DX7 synthesizers. We are ready — way past ready — to be punished.
Kew Gardens Interchange (Queens, New York)
Trappist monk Thomas Merton published autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain in 1948. By 1953, Thomas was telling people Thomas Merton was somebody Thomas did not know. Perhaps a crow wrote an entire book with a vegetative twig. Thomas did not like rulers so Thomas did not rule out anything, especially uncertainty.
Thomas meant to remind people how to sustain passion without certainty. Vehicles crossed bridges from disbelief to belief all afternoon. Faith flowed easier from southbound direction. Intensity levels trended northward. By 1966, Thomas loved his Louisville hospital nurse. By 1968, Thomas expired in Thailand, shocked by a short-circuited Hitachi floor fan.
Newark Airport Interchange (New Jersey Turnpike)
Yellow fever cases drop during January 1804. Doctor-in-training Stubbins Ffirth theorizes yellow fever is not contagious. Ffirth daubs hallucinating people’s blood, urine, and vomit into his own orifices. Ffirth never catches yellow fever because samples originate from patients already post-transmittable. Consider how many Fridays Ffirth considers what he is considering confidence.
Ffirth’s sister Charlotte’s yellow fever is chili red. Charlotte is hot, cool, keen, queer, and empathic for aquatic life, in particular whales. Charlotte is certain whales are telepathic. Charlotte suggests six mothers can traverse diverse nautical mile coordinates to locate any lost calf. They all meet relieved at Ningaloo Reef. Charlotte’s yellow fever is out of mercury.
