170121 - “Pre Extinction People” · Chapter 2

 

   Not given to revery, Pasqual wasn’t sure how to process his feelings of that moment. He’d been raised on the “Tejas” border in Brownsville, TX and only through a series of fluke accidents ended up married to Angela Vigoda, a Jewish American Princess (JAP) from North Hollywood, CA - his now ex-wife and concubine to his current employer Mordecaise Lizt’s best friend Guildern Seur owner of the “Crocodile Cafe.” 

   Pasqual and Angela had barely escaped the 1st Plague Lockdown at the end of 2021 - “the year that was · still”, 9 years and a 2nd pandemic later. Pasqual’s mother was full-blooded Chiricahua Apache - a direct descendent of Geronimo; his father had been an apparatchik with the Partido Communista Mexicano (PCM).

   Angela materialized at his elbow, and what ever revery he’d been feeling vanished like a coastal vapor. “Well done vaquero.” Angela sounded quietly in his direction, glancing at the muffled agitation of the roped, gagged Tito. “Guildern is much appreciative of your help.” Pasqual, didn’t turn or look, but nodded to the gelded threat. Their dead "Baby 'David' Jesus" still hung over every exchange they’d had since his death from a more contagious strain of Covid-19, just months after their arrival in Montevideo. Pasqual was inconsolable and out-of-his-mind-with-grief, until Angela inadvertently aimed a knife through his liver one night as he descended into his Mezcal stupor - after that it was “heal or die,” for Pasqual.

   “Yeah, that brought up a lot of shit I didn’t see coming,” looking deeply into Angela’s emerald green eyes for possibly the first time since that bloody fateful evening some 7 years earlier; Angela did not turn the deep remorse in Pasqual’s expression.

    “Lad.” Guildern’s gentle voice burst through their fog of memory; as he cloaked Tito’s quiescent form with a canvas amidst the curious evening trade, nodding first to Pasqual, then to the backed-in Toyota pickup that had materialized in the darkening entryway. “Give us a hand, will ya’ friend?” Pasqual shifted the weight away from Guildern’s wounded arm as they lifted the suddenly inert form into pickup’s bed. Mordecaise shifted the nondescript conveyance into gear and very slowly moved down the alleyway. Guildern took Pasqual’s hand, murmuring into his ear, “I owe you, once again.”

Angela had vanished inside as the two stood side by side watching the evening descend along with the advance of the night’s clientele looking thirsty, fresh, and oblivious to the drama of the past 18 hours.

 

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   Mordecaise navigated toward the wharfs North of Old Town careful not to disturb his cargo or draw attention to his coffee cup full of Tinto Rojo. The warehouse door was ajar and two figures dropped the tailgate, hefting the draped figure through to the inside of the cavernous building before Mordecaise had turned off the ignition. 

   “Da’ fuck are you doing?” Tito hissed as Modecaise ripped the Duct Tape from Tito’s haggard, unrepentant face. This is “Fucking kidnapping you dumb ox,” Tito snarled, too whacked to understand the delicacy of his circumstance. “I got friends that are gonna fuck you up;” he blathered trying to patch together the ‘how and wherefore,’ from his spotted memory. The ache in his head had receded into a clocklike tic in his right eye that appeared as though he was winking with each empty threat.

   Mordacaise seated Tito in the dead center of the large empty space on a stool with a single pole to lean against right at the height of Tito’s solar plexus. He had to splay his legs to seat comfortably, but found when he leaned forward the pole would impede his breathing, his restrained wrists were draped to the outside of the pole preventing him from any real leverage; it also kept him from pivoting in his seat limiting any peripheral vision. What there was to see radiated from a small circular window high on the wall behind him lighting the wall in front of him with a luminous orb that was slowly rising, dimming and diminishing with the setting sun, giving the bizarre impression of sunrise in an alternate universe . . . Tito began to “jones” for a fix, or from fear; he had trouble distinguishing the two. “¿Comfy amigo?” Mordecaise voice was close, flat and icy. Tito began to tremble.

   “I’m gonna fuck you up, pinche guay.” Tito said more to himself than the disembodied voice. “I got friends; you fucked with the wrong guy;” gasping from the pressure at his solar plexus when he thrust out his chest for effect, just as a talon-like grip grasped his head and pulled it up and forward.

   “Stay just like that if you wish to continue breathing,” commanded a voice just as a knee pressed his thorax into the pole for emphasis. Wheezing assent, Tito’s frame became uncharacteristically compliant and still. From his days working, Tito recognized the smell and feel of a welder’s helmet as it was set tightly onto his pained cranium. With a hiss, the sound of gas from an open valve startled the already terrified tough guy to a pitch. . . What was that odor¿ Tito frantically searched his blunted memory for an answer; he knew what it was, but couldn’t reach what he knew, like so much of his life . . The knee pressed again; now into the small of his back forcing him to gulp air; instead he laughed out loud - way too loud, instantly rememebering that odor - Nitrous Oxide. “¿What are you laughing at Tito?” The tiny orb of natural light had risen and vanished into the ceiling, transformed int a flickering red beacon, strobing brighter and brighter; finally sunlight bright. 

Tears were streaming down Tito’s face from laughing so hard; but the frosty voice at his shoulder pressed for an answer, “Tito, you stabbed my friend - I’m not laughing, why are you?” Though addled by substances from an early age; and veteran of many gun battles from dodgy drug deals with vicious clients, Tito did not know when he’d been so confused, or frightened - and began to urinate; the stool was electrified; a low-voltage current ran through his damp crotch; he was simultaneously weeping and peeing. From a distance, if one’s vision was not too clear and in possession of a vivid imagination, the pulsing figure would almost appear to be a cheerful welder dancing through another day’s labor accompanied by gales of laughter.

“Tito; what is so damn funny? You stabbed my friend; I’m not laughing.”

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   “Angela, table 3 is on their 4th round of “White Russians.” She glanced out over the crowd spotting the seated 5, who were beginning to spill out of their seats; their drinks and from the sound of it - the deepest recesses of their souls. “Shall I cut them off, or can you ween them slowly?” Guildern had great respect for Angela’s people skills and relied on her to calm the waters.

   It was close to the witching hour when clients began to shed more than their inhibitions. There was a fine line between commerce and mayhem, to which Guildern’s bandaged arm testified. “Let me see if they can be cautioned back to the hotel by imaginary muggers lurking in late-night old town.” Angela kissed Guildern’s cheek, caressing his wounded arm, before she balanced her tray full of drinks out over the crowd, whispering something to table three which had the effect of a storm cloud over a spring picnic. 

   Mordecaise was just returning through the door as table 3 hailed the check. When he’d retrieved his full goblet of Tinto Rojo, Mordecaise ambled over to Pasqual who’d been quietly on the phone at a back table the entire night. “Where’d ya’ go boss,” searching the face of his bemused mentor; “What’s so damn funny?” Pasqual’s question only served to brighten the twinkle in his friend’s eyes.

   “Business Lad, always business.” Mordecaise checked over Pasqual’s copious notes, beginning to recognize some of the ciphers and notations of Pasqual’s unique script. “How far did you get with Sr. Schmuck?” Mordecaise respected Pasqual’s research skills and relentless curiosity, but still wasn’t prepared for this report.

   “This one is fucking strange, and just gets stranger the deeper i dig.” Peering into his notes, Pasqual bent back his hunched shoulders while taking a deep breath, trying to distill his thoughts into a single thread of simple facts. 

“The decedent Domhall Schmuck, until a month ago had two brothers: Demsford and Reynaldo Schmuck; the three had been orphaned in 1976, when their parent’s private plane crashed in transit between NYC and their hometown Philadelphia. They were raised by their guardian and family attorney Lammele Dama. Domhall was the eldest at 16, Reynaldo 14 and Demsford 12 - each inherited 1/3 of the $3.3 million estate on their 21st birthday; Reynaldo died in Hoi An Vietnam 6 months ago, and Demsford in Paris France, 1 year ago to the day on which Domhall died here in Montevideo.” Pasqual let out a small sigh, like a young student who’d just recited his first book report. Mordecaise still marveled at his dumb luck to have found such a gifted investigator without even looking - fucking synchronicity he thought to himself while beaming with genuine affection at Pasqual. “Like i said, boss - this is the strangest thing i’ve seen yet.” oblivious to the admiration in his mentor’s cobalt blue eyes. 

 

(˚ ㄥ _˚)                    

17 January 2021

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090121 - "Pre Extinction People" · part i ; Chapter 1

 “Pre Extinction People”

She closed the tattered copy of “1984” for its last time in a dim dawn light, determined to sleep before her afternoon shift serving seafood to plague refugees at “Pensione Excelsior - Punta del Este; Uruguay.” Her sleep had been fitful, but fruitful with vivid images of her dead baby Jesus along with incongruous replies to thorny questions to George Orwell mixing reason and nonsense bursting from molten bubbles on the surface of her next ‘fucking day in paradise;’ she pondered still.

Angela arrived 10 minutes late feeling the tangible whinge of stranded rich people curdling her supervisors's bogus benevolence - Sysa Phish menaced low - “get the fuck out there” · Angela knew her work and her place in the food chain; Sysa Phish knew mostly the demands of the uber-Vips. Angela nodded and quietly gathered her iPad and towel into her apron and marched onto the marble floor of gourmet goodness at Punta del Este. 

The afternoon sun was setting as tables were filled with the evanescent evacuees of a collapsed planetary economy transferring their conflated importance onto a new landscape knowing little about the culture upon which they’d landed - armed by an effete 'Noblesse Oblige that served as raiment in “the capital” Capitols of New York, Brussels and London for the past 200 years, but now rattled as bones bones in the throes of death.

“Can I help you?” Angela mimed to the garish redhead at her first table unsure which language to use. The brightly painted woman didn’t look up while she ordered catfish, potatoes and salsa in flawless Spanish for herself and her very pretty male companion who was leering from under his eylashes at Angela while fingering the redhead’s diamond bracelet. “Thank god it’ll be a short shift,” Angela thought “The train gets to Montevideo by 20:00, and i'll be at the “Crocodile," by quarter past, if I’m lucky - “Punte Este” was steady income, but the "Crocodile Cafe” was far more lucrative and entertaining.

The ambulance was just pulling away as she arrived at the “Croc” about 10:20; the crowd at the  doorway did not include the owner Guildern Suer, which struck Angela odd while Mordecais Lizt was pacing slowly in a tight circle still clutching his goblet of Tinto Rojo. He was able to focus his hoary blue eyes deeply on her when she posted herself at a tangent to his slow circle; he stopped in front of her; stooped over and quietly muttered, “Guildern was stabbed in the arm evicting that puta speed freak - Tito". Angela tottered for a moment leaning on Mordacais’ elbow, and muttered just as quietly, “is it busy?”

“Not too very; glad you’re here, Guildern was worried you had missed the train; had to force him into the van - too much blood, we slowed it with his belt; and he’ll be okay.” Angela focused by distress moved through the crowd to the back door, battalion style and commenced taking orders in the rapidly swelling Bistro - mayhem seems to draw clients like flies; Angela noted, meaning to say nothing of this to Guildern, feeling certain he’d known before he ever gave the landmark cafe it’s name. Located deep within moss covered archways overgrown by ancient wisteria and its cloying scent of sweet decay; the aged stone archway and massive oak doors more resembled the landing for a dank terminus in a subterranean grotto than the customs office of its former life.

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Guildern sat up too quickly and felt his sight dimming in time to sit back against the cool pillow cloth. He glanced around for his phone hoping it was included with his pouch containing passport and wallet - "the bug bag.” He’d managed to knock Tito unconscious with the crack of a beer bottle to the skull and remained standing over the motionless body until the policía confirmed Tito was still breathing; Guildern then allowed someone to quell the dripping blood at his elbow which had formed a crimson pool at the shoulder of his assailant. They used his own belt for a tourniquet, his pants kept drooping on his journey from the “Croc” to emergency room.

It wasn’t until well passed 3 AM before he stepped out of the taxi into the darkened doorway of the cafe. The door was propped open and a faint light lit the dampened paving stone - the peculiar moss green hue contrasted against the dark crimson of spilt blood. Angela looked up as he stepped inside, the after-hours crowd ignored them, peering into their drinks like a tired herd in semi-stupor. Guildern and Angela settled onto stools in a tiny alcove at the bar’s end. Their mutual fatigue somehow fortified each as they gazed into the other’s eyes with a silent “WTF just happened” expression only longtime lovers understand. His hand rested comfortably in the valley of her quiescent nether while she tenderly examined dressings covering the thirty stitches necessary to seal his gash.

 

By 4:30 AM, end of trade allowed the cafe to be closed and darkened, and the two weary friends carried each other’s hand up the staircase to the welcoming loft and beckoning downy berth. Hours later the clattering of fish carts on cobblestones signaled early evening preparation for the evening trade and continued hopes of an economic recovery. The borders had reopened 6 months earlier after 18 months of lockdown. Like the necessary bomb shelters of WWII people adapted to the intervals of interruption, gradually succumbing to an inevitable depression and surrender to circumstance punctuated by emotional conflagrations that often left injured parties in their wakes. 

Guildern woke to Angela pulling his flaccid member into her mouth with a gentleness he’d forgotten she possessed. Still woozy from depleted fluids his arousal was a more sacred and ejaculation complete than he could remember ever having had. Angela swallowed all his semen  leaving his limp penis in her mouth as she began to doze. The sun was pouring through the windows as he stroked her hair and reflected on their past 6 years together. Her petite physique and auburn tresses belied a physical power that still surprised him to see when she hoisted cases of wine onto the top stacks, or shifted crates across uneven floors. When she began to stir, he crawled between her legs and did his best to aid her to find a peak they could both gaze from in their private hearts.

Mordecaise was in the process of stocking the bar for the early afternoon commerce stream when the two returned down the stairs they’d climbed up for refuge the night before. “‘Sup¿” Mordecaise grunted in his best imitation of “hood-speak,” just as Pasqual burst through the door slamming it shut before a loud crash echoed through the cafe.

“Fucking Tito is out there with crowbar, swears he’s gonna kill you Guildern - high as a fucking kite.” Guildern didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so he returned to counting the receipts of the night before. “Man did you hear me?” Angela was hanging up the phone.

Commenting to no one in particular she remarked, “Cops said we’ve exceeded our allowance for the month, fix it yourselves, or wait ’til next month.” The pounding at the door had ceased and there was an ominous silence, while Guildern continued counting the receipts.

Pssqual rose from his seat and grabbed the lariat used for the winter festivals to attract customers and exited out the back. 10 minutes later from the same exit there was a loud mewling like a stuck pig, so Mordecaise stuck his head out the door to see if it was safe again. He saw  Pasqual standing with a foot poised awkwardly on a tormented Tito who was squirming like a hogtied caterpillar searching for its new life. Mordecaise turned to refill his goblet with Tinto Rojo, then stepped back outside to consult with Pasqual.

Mordecaise set his goblet down on the low table where Pasqual sat admiring his handiwork, having gagged Tito to cut down on the squealing. Mordecaise lowered his voice and peered into Pasqual’s eyes - the goblet being the tipoff, so when Mordecaise began to speak Pasqual had his phone ready for notes. “There is a decedent, Domhall Schmuck from Rio who died here in Montevideo last Wednesday; the estate is sizable and there is no family member claiming the body. I want you to check with your friend Gonzo Benino in Rio for blood relatives and then contact Leslea Corkturn in Saltlake; he lived in the States for 20 years prior to 2021 so there may be “blood” claiming. The guy was a recluse with few known associates. When you can, I want anything you can turn up about his business interests before the Public Administrator files; there may not be a will, so you can expect a lot of 'heat' we don’t need; please make sure Gonzo and Leslea understand that.” As he rose to leave, he turned back and mentioned to Pasqual, “there’s a Renoir shipping from NYC to Punta Este next month, I want it insured for $3.5 million USD, same for the bonded carrier.”

Pasqual watched the gangly, hirsute man receding back through the too small doorway and thought to himself, “life's a real hoot.”

(˚ ㄥ _˚)                    

01 January 2021

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100121 - “Pre-Extinction People” · PEP plot

    She closed her tattered copy of “1984” for the last time in the dim dawn light of the determined to sleep before her afternoon shift serving seafood to plague refugees at “Pensione Excelsior, Bar & Grill” in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Sleep was fitful and rich with the answers to thorny questions about Orwell’s deeper reasoning rising like molten bubbles bursting onto the surface of her next conscious ‘fucking day in paradise.’

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Prologue

What was left of the corporate hegemony understood, if there was ever to be continuation of their empire-based business model it would require a population capable of utilizing the technology which had both enriched the corporate overlords and doomed their customer base to extinction resulting in the unexpected outcome of “no product, no profit”, ergo free tele-communication/media access, free housing and “free lunch” provided by a guaranteed universal income. The social media platform of Zchnarkzy Marskburgh’s became a public utility providing news and interpersonal telecommunications, regulated by the “Federation,” formerly United Nations. Public Records, banking and the judicial system was consolidated under “Googol,” a resource tool that had been assigned the controversial task of uploading the “human experience” into its Artificial Intelligence (Art Intel) silicon matrix secreted in the salt caverns of an abandoned nuclear waste dump in the wastelands of Utah, a former state within the Western Hemisphere North Territory of USA.

Angela Vigoda

Guildern Seur 

Pasqual Ortega–

Mordecais Liszt

Domhall Schmuck, Reynaldo Schmuck, Demsford Schmuck 

Lammele Dama - executor Schmuck’s estate

Thich Tok Longh - Bhikkhu @ Từ Hiếu ‘Root Pagoda’ Hue · Pasqual’s uncle Jose Ortega had been in contact prior to becoming MIA during the Tết offensive of 1968

Perma Cauldron - grief counselor to Angela and Pasqual · Montevideo

Faik Besos 

Zchnarkzy Marskburgh

Reiman Curzewel

Leslei Coerktern - operative par excellence · researching death of Demsford, France

Tieh Ngong - owner of “Duyên Dáng” (Graceful) Homestay

Ngài Trâu - artist, guide

Archdai Tryump - foil at cottage of Demsford Schmuck · Earl of Rye, 3rd Duke of Avignon. Aix-en-s Provence 

Sysa Phish - Angela´s superior · Excelsior Bar & Grill, Punta del Este

Gonzo Veneno - operative Mexico, DF

Corina Abeja - last companion, Domhall Schmuck · owner of Artist Colony, Buena Vista Oaxaca; bruja, paramour to Mordecaise in transit

Sra Luz de Ley - Mordecaise Abogada in Oaxaca

Comandante Fernando Gonzalez - Oaxaca, Chief of Detectives

Rojita y Rojo - entertainers “Crocodile Cafe” Montevideo

Venceramos Brigade - entertainers sharing the venue at the Croc. due to missing a gig 

- Che Chimera - charismatic front man

- Jaime Quioxote roady, 

Tito - meth addict, stabbed Guildern in the arm, was punished by Mordecaise · nemesis, later tried to gang rape Angela

Madame Ouvière - landlady at Demsford’s cottage near Bibemus quarry Aix. 

Prologue: 2021 - 2026

The body count in ‘merica had grown exponentially for 5 years after D.J. Trump, 45th POTUS was deposed following an unsuccessful putsch in 2021, reaching a peak of 10.5 k deaths per day in 2024. This eviscerated the health care system and neutered every effort to counter the ever increasing death toll. When Jamie Dimond sold American Health Care Inc. to China for 37¢ on the dollar in late 2023, 4.76% of the population had received the 1st vaccine inoculation, but only 3.14% received the 2nd dose in time to protect against Covid’s mutations. Angela Vigoda and Pasqual Ortega had quick-deeded their home in Simi Valley in 2023 straight across to a “coyote” for transit to Uruguay where the daily death toll at 1.5 k per day was amongst the lowest in the world of semi-permeable borders - those nations with closed borders since the beginning of the pandemic were charging a premium for entry visas.

By late 2031, internet and Wifi telecommunication channels had been automated and ruggedized to the extent that any abandoned phone could be activated by a universal sequence necessitated by the enormous number of dead and dying during the 2nd Wave. This radical corporate measure allowed for a consumer supply chain which was all that remained of the Amazon empire, after its founder hung himself at the end of the 2nd wave when his fortune was reduced by 75%

The May/December marriage of Angela (35 yo) and Pasqual (55 yo) had not survived the death of their only child baby Jesus soon after their arrival in Punte del Este, Uruguay. They parted company after she stabbed Pasqual in the liver during a violent quarrel over a too friendly waiter a year and half after their arrival. Pasqual moved to Montevideo and began working as an apprentice for Mordecaise Lizt a Bavarian piano tuner/organ builder - estate industry wunderkind. Mordecaise ran a spider web of enterprises, from international estate tracking, to a shipping concern for delicate instruments and fine art

Part I chap 4 Leslei left the continental U.S. to investigate the death of Demsord Schmuck (1 in France; Pasqual left Uruguay to research the death of Reynaldo (2, six months later at the Từ Hiếu Pagoda in Hue, though he was interred in Hoi An Vietnam,) Chap 6 Mordecaise arrived in Oaxaca; Mexico - arrested · to investigate the death of Domhall Schmuck (3 who materialized after his recorded death in Oaxaca, Mexico in Montevideo, Uruguay minus any travel documentation

Angela and Pasqual had been able to bridge the chasm of grief from the loss of their child Jesus during their divorce and remained friends. It was through Mordecaise Liszt that she had met Guildern Seur in 2026 and began commuting between Punta del Este and Montevideo where she worked weekends at the Crocodile Cafe. There had been a 2nd killing wave in 2027, and a 3rd “killing” wave erupted in late 2031 that by all known statistical models exceeded the boundaries of repopulation leaving nothing but a dwindling window during which the homo sapiens faced certain extinction, or transfiguration.

Chapters 1-9

Part II

Chapter 10

Part III

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Conclusion: 

There was no vaccine devised for the rapidly mutating virus in time for the 3rd killing wave of the original Corona Virus and the remaining population lived with the unspoken reality of extinction. Guildern was the 1st of the quartet to expire, leaving his estate divided between to Angela and Mordecaise. Leslei, had traveled to France where the 3rd brother had died first at Plum Village - a Thich Nhat Hanh monastery in the South of France. Pasqual had left for Vietnam where the 2nd brother Reynaldo had died in Hue at the root pagoda of the Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Mordecaise was following the trail of a possible heir in Oaxaca, Mexico. He was joined by a Bruja poetess/artist from Oaxaca who mysteriously spoke an ancient dialect of Chiricahua that Pasqual inexplicably understood. 

jts 10/01/2021

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090121 - Extinction Chronicles ·

Not sure if i’m anti-social or no; i’d have to imagine if you base your opinion on accounts of others - that’d be an affirmative · yet .  ..  ··· just now it is raining - a cold rain the day of a wake for a stranger i know not at all. His passing was tragic and i represented out of solidarity with a widow and son facing humongous “right@xmas” hospital bills in a foreign land. Mustering in the early afternoon rain, i saw no reason to remain and commune with strangers mourning his passing and so vacated the social field for “friendlier” terrain, then the power grid of the more congenial bistro i retreated to collapsed, and reignited just as i was getting into my musical laptop workaround. Yesterday my nation was faced with the first occupation of its capitol since 1824 when the British invaded just prior or after the Constitutional Congress. These insurrectionists were homegrown fascists incited by scurrilous claims of a stolen election from the outgoing MT Suit #45, and left unanswered by the incoming corporately ensconced #46.

I’ve elected to ride the crest of the coming maelstrom within the conceit of a novel - something i’ve been threatening since “My Life in a Sea of Anonymity” bobbed into my 20 year-old something imagination. In the unlikely event some of you search for “Extinction Chronicles” they may be found under “The Extinction Chronicles - "The Post Extinction Inception · stay tuned, its hardly a weight i welcome on this cold afternoon, friendless in a community that prides itself on friendship but gorges on ______ fill in the blank; a clue: t’ain’t “friendship,” near as i can tell, but you should know that i am well represented in every anomaly about that meaning known to man/woman or governing agency - a renegade with regards to language signifiers. My attention to such fine points hasn’t as yet seemed to bridge the gap from “weird” to un-weird. 

Luckily this personal evolution occurs just in time for me to die in peace alone and without external reinforcement for what i feel or what i think - so i say · Whether that is spiritual acceptance of the incontrovertible fact that i will die alone regardless of the proximity of a loving expression of personal affection, or utter indifference about my particular passing in the midst of hordes of other dying humans is unimportant. To me what counts is the feeling i bring to that instant i become an inanimate object of collected corpuscles continuing to decay just lacking consciousness, into a film resembling spontaneous combustion, only at a much slower pace. Ergo the possibility of my words and ideas receding at a much slower pace possibly providing aid and comfort i was unable to manifest while breathing.

If there is a residue from people’s experience that distinguishes happy from sad, or fulfilled from desperate, I D K, i do know from witnessing the pathetic expressions of wannabe patriots trapped into lies of their own conceit, and cowardice, i’d rather not commingle my tenuous wants and desires with the vagaries of vanity, prefer to leave my traces amongst the more vital fields of promise, hope and honesty - whatever that may cost me in dignity or humiliation, (for g_d’s sake, look out over the horizon and ask your supple intellect how many persons have crashed and burned in an effort to leave a footprint on the face of this planet when not welcomed by the ultimate editor, happenstance.)

I’m not afraid, i’m terrified, but have lived so long with this curious condition that to persist for a few more months before i am crushed by the weight of my own blood pump is a small sacrifice if even a single new sentence i might conjure through innocent play allows one child from one family to procreate in a loving way with one other human and thereby continue our miraculous strand of DNA which barely has become aware of its potential before being evicted by appetites and hungers that required distinction one from the other, more than providing something for the sake of other. Oh well - maybe if we remain playful and non-judgmental in support of enjoyment and loving recourse, others might follow suit, if not a scent toward a place we may once again propagate with gusto and kindness into unknown, less frightening realities.

(˚ ㄥ _˚)                    

jts 010921

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http://JosephTStevens.blogspot.com 

http://stoanartst.blogspot.com

prohibited from AI sampling in any form

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080121 - Extinction Chronicles ·

Last night was another bifurcated sleep with a break spelled by “Barney Miller” humor. I prefer to rise early and so try to truncate my middle of the night wakefulness as much as possible. Thinking about today`s writing i was going to try to depict my early friendship with the newly arrived “Boat People” in what became ground zero for “Little Saigon” of Orange County, Ca. Last night there was no indication of the mayhem in the capitol of my nation that i was to wake up to. It is not a putsch as the corporate media would so like you to believe, rather a staged circus designed to destabilize civic authority and solidify the autocratic corporate oligarchy attempting to rule the planet - I would rather reminisce about my friends Hoa Le, and Ngay Phan by describing their heroic journey into ‘merican culture, however sad it is that i haven’t seen them in 40 years, and that they are very likely ardent _rump supporters.

The first nguoi Viet to arrive in California were sent to Camp Pendleton Marine Corps just South of San Clemente. From this location clusters of immigrants were released through a sponsorship arrangement with local communities to aid in assimilation of acclimating to their new home. I was living in Santa Ana, close to downtown when this happened. Peering back through the haze of time, I believe that we met as participants in a Comprehensive Educational Training Act (CETA) program where we were to be trained as “Maintenance Mechanics” at one of the local community colleges. They were living close to one of the first Vietnamese Shopping Strips at the corner of Hope St & Sullivan in Santa Ana; i was living at Bishop off Broadway, also in Santa Ana, and we all commuted to Fountain Valley for training: welding, renovating assembly lines, rebuilding power hacksaws, etc.

Our class was an eclectic group during the year of the Biennial 1776-1976 and people were optimistic and happy to be alive; crossing cultural barriers came easy, and ours contained a broad spectrum from homeboys out of SA, soldiers from Saigon and engineering dropouts out of Irvine. What i remember vividly was the aplomb my new Vietnamese friends confronted their new reality - the restaurant at Hope & Sullivan included a social club and it became immediately clear how cohesive they were as a community, but also relentlessly expansive and curious about new experiences. My neighbors in the front house were a fractious couple with a young child and the husband’s volatile belligerence contributed much to their unhappiness. You can imagine his surprise when Hoa took a shine to the Señora and just moved in; as far as i know there was never an altercation of any kind, Hoa simply assumed head of household & that was that.

This was within a many generation deep latino  barrio with routine murders and gang strife, but my friends were never daunted and routinely marched in loose formation with a confidence that gave the homies pause - a not easily accomplished feat. Of course it was not a reciprocal welcome, there was no easy admittance at the social club, and without an escort you may as well have been waiting for the midnight bus if you expected to order. Yet they were entirely open to foreign social events regardless of any language or cultural barriers. I remember my friends charming strangers in any number of different settings using generosity, warmth and kindness as their only entree. They, and my memories of their indomitable courage are responsible in large part for my decision to move here Vietnam when i did.

The courage of my friends is still more remarkable after i have viewed first hand the echo of havoc: physically, ecologically, culturally my own country wrought when occupying Vietnam for entirely venal reasons then - and more dubious now. It may be the lessons i was learning then, were left incomplete and required review, or i am just part of some karmic continuum for which there is no rhyme or reason and like a blind man in a darkened house i am feeling my way from room to room searching for something i didn’t know i’d lost, or bringing something necessary for some purpose i will not understand until i get there. Crazy as it seems, i believe it is a theory more practical than the hysteria being acted out in the seat of power in my own country by zealots who possess no scrap of doubt in their minds about behavior that is as dangerous as i’ve ever seen in my long life - i can only pray & occupy myself with peaceful activity until the light of reason returns to our darkened world. 

jts 08/01/2021

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