Martha In The Overall Scheme Of Things

The first woman who ever slapped my face
was named Joanne. And the first woman who
ever kicked me was named Joanne, also.
On this list of dubious firsts, Martha
comes first because she was the first woman
who ever slammed a door right in my face.

#

Now, I’ve mentioned the Joanne who kicked me
once or twice already in these writings.
The Joanne who kicked me was, for instance,
the woman sitting in her lingerie
journaling while Steely Dan music played. *
I’ll be writing more about this Joanne.

#

I haven’t written directly about
the Joanne who slapped me yet. However,
she was friends with Bob the photographer *
and I have mentioned him. I’ll be writing
more about this Joanne. She played a part
in a story about a hippie ghost
late one night on Chicago’s far south side.

#

But many years before I got kicked and
a couple of years before I got slapped,
a young woman named Martha slammed a door
right in my face. Even though she later
unlocked and opened one or two others
I still often feel as if I’m standing
at a locked door wondering what the hell
is going on in the room behind it.
Tomorrow I’ll tell the story about
“Martha And The Alchemy Of Doors,” and
Friday I’ll go over Martha’s theory
about JFK’s assassination,
Princess Diana’s death and something called,
by Martha, “The End Of The World Working.”

#




---------------------------------------------------------------------

* N.B. -- This "new" beta version of Blogger makes linking
to old posts very difficult. I imagine there's a way, but I'll be darned
if I know what it is. The Joanne in her lingerie post is titled
"Victoria's Secret," 11/24 in the November archive, and the post
with Bob the photographer is "Parking Lots At Night" parts 1-3,
8/29-31 in the August Archive. I'll try and figure out how to link to things
directly. -- Mark