On the Road [Reposted]

Once upon a time, there was a space cowboy. He wore a leather spacesuit and a ten gallon hat over his oxygen helmet. He floated around from planet to planet, just swimming hard through the non-atmosphere like it was water. He drifted like this alone all his life, as far back as he could remember. He never had what anyone could ever call a home. He was just like a rolling stone, but with the moss already grown on it. One day, he found a planet that was so small, it was always daylight. He could just float along slowly in one direction as the planet rotated, and he'd be in daylight forever. He considered that perhaps this might be a good place to settle down finally, a good place to finally have a home. He didn't want to be "on his own" all the time. He was tired of being on the road. He had seen so much of the universe already. He knew many little tricks about the universe that others didn't know. He knew that if you closed your eyes, snapped twice with both hands, cross your big toe with your other toes, and sneeze, you can cause time to freeze for about 10 minutes. What would you do with your 10 minutes alone in the entire world? What would you do with those 10 minutes that belonged to absolutely no one else but you? What would you do with 10 minutes in which you answered to absolutely no one, no thing, no idea, no belief? Unknown and alone. Well that feeling just reminded him of his entire life, how he did so much continuous traveling, never stopping even once, as far back as he could remember. Never being with any body. Always just sort of alone. So wasn't it just a good idea to live in the sunshine? I mean... hey, what's nicer than sunshine? Right? It feels good. It would be a nice life to live. So finally, he said to himself, "Robert Fender, let us go! Let us settle down! Let us be happy! Yes, indeed! We shall! I... I -- I will!" And it was happiness. It truly was. And it lasted quite a long time, too. Longer than it ever had before. It just really felt great. But... well. You -- but you know. Things don't always... They never just keep... What I mean to say is, there is almost alwa -- there ALWAYS is an end. It's -- it couldn't be goodness for ever. But this part, this part could still be considered part of the happiness, but only at the back end of it. The happiness is in its twilight. For the first time ever that he had on that little planet, he felt it coming to twilight. That's right, I mean... There was sun. There's always sun on that planet. It's so small. But this is sort of him walking into a situation with ever slightly increasing twilight. So here we are. Here we are -- here we are to this...! TO THIS!

Paul Despecter rode into town. He had been a longtime traveler as well! But the difference was, here we had a REAL cowboy. Not the space cowboy that Robert Fender was. He was a REAL cowboy. And he came riding in on a horse, wearing boots and spurs and a cowboy hat. He took a huge swig of beer, and it splashed all over his face and body. He was a sort of... hungry man, you could say. And here he was heading for this little planet! Here he was, ready to confront Robert Fender and his own sense of aesthetics. Paul was a strong man, like a Paul Bunyan type. He was never a chicken. He backed down from nothing, but -- but it makes one ponder, doesn't it? -- that that perhaps was his weakness. Yes. The strong(man) weakness. He swerves in onto this planet and says, "Hey now! What's going on? I've ridden in on this horse, you know, that comes from my planet. Heh. You get this? I'm an American! I'm a Texan!" And the space cowboy just looked at him and blinked, and immediately took of Americans the same attitude as did the Europeans. Yeah, that's how he reacted -- just like Europeans would. But he knew of no Earthly concepts whatsoever, so he had no idea he was being European. But he thought the same thing.

But then the girl enters in! She has a soulful voice, deep, true. People walk by her and always stare, because she just looks that true. She spoke so truthfully. Do not confuse that with naïveté, which it was not. Indeed. She loved her mother. She never forgot her home, wherever she was. She was the exact opposite of this space cowboy wanderer, Robert Fender. She -- Queen Jane, let's call her. She confused Robert! Robert had never met a Jane like this before.

Heh. Things happen, you know? Jane couldn't explain it. Robert couldn't explain it either. Things happened in montage. You think montage is an artificial trick played by directors and cinematographers? No, montage is real life. And Robert's life was going in montage at this point in time. Things were just kind of happening like that in memory. The montage era. He was a good musician, too, and listened to a lot of good music, so things were always set back on a great soundtrack.

Paul Despecter ran into the girl. That was a crazy time in her life! Haha, I'll say so myself. I hate being the baby brother to any body. I just like eating candy, so what? That doesn't make me like a little child. 8th grade is really high! That's a huge number. And besides, it's not about the candy, I'm way more mature than that. But I do like candy. So that's the way it goes. Candy break!

They were all different colors, and they all tasted slightly different, too, based on the color. Who knew M&M's flavored those things. I thought it was all just chocolate.

BANG!

bang bang

Here we go. Something is happening here, but you don't know what it is. It's a great time to have a drink and a smoke, that's for sure. People are just silly. Human beings are silly. I hate being so geeky. I'm an 8th grade geek. Such a freak. But I was freaking smart, at least! I was! I was, like, I dominated, man. I came in 2nd! After 27. You gotta respect that. Damn! These M&M's are awesome. Shit, but I need a lot of water. Damn, I need a lot of water. TIMEOUT. Sorry about that, sword-swallower. Amazing. Fabulous. Fabulous feels great.

DRIVING! DRIVING! DRIVING! I want to go driving. Actually, I'd rather go passengering. You know? Mr. Jones. Mr. Clones. OH, crap! Not again! Get away...

And the jazz band played heavily with sweat on their brows, in the purplish gray light of the bar. Smoke was everywhere, and each band was going crazy, flipping out the jazz tonight, into the night air. Queen Jane was here tonight. Alone. Not with her mother this time, like she usually is. Is she here for a special reason tonight? Who knows? She certainly doesn't. She won't kid herself. And that's when Robert Fender came crashing into the circle of her life. What was this? He smelled funny. She smelled like love. Fender turned and gave a look and a smile, and she just raised her eyebrows. And that was their first meeting. Completely forgotten about right afterwards, as if it were just an automatic reflex. Their first meeting was a reflex...

So won't you come see me, Queen Jane? Oh, I don't know, Robert Fender. What have we got to lose? Many things, Robert. Queenie. Don't, Robert. Q! Little Susie-Q. Robert, I must leave. Queen Jane, do not go. I must. Don't. You don't. Let's not bring that up. So that was that, and it started raining.

Life was intense as a lone ranger again. At first, he tried stopping being a ranger, settling on the sunny planet. Didn't work. Then he tried stopping the lone part. And she left. So he tried just letting it happen. Lone ranger. That's who he was. The space cowboy in the leather spacesuit. And the hat. He still had the hat. His hat. So he was still the lone ranger. Yeah. Easily done.

Harry typed all of this out. But Harry died and now I have to take over. I dunno if I can. He said on his deathbed to just please finish it somehow, because it needs finishing. Well, I dunno how to do that. But I guess I'll try. He said to. What is this story about anyway? I hope it's about spring or something. I don't want to think that Harry was writing wintery type things right before death. That just seems odd. "Just Like Thom Thomb's Blues" has one interestingly specific lyric. One should Google it if one is a Googler. "She peaks good English and you invite her up into your room" and that following sequence is not it, either. No, with light sabers! That's how they battle each other! Wow. I think I made it too big. Bigger than it needed to be. Oh, well. Makes things harder. Hard is good. Hard builds character. Almost to the grand finale, eh? What a great album of life Robert Fender led. Things are always looking up if you just tilt your head. That's what's beautiful about perspective. One simple move of the head and you get a whole new world to interpret.

They're selling postcards of the hanging. The circus is in town. Here comes the blind commissioner. They've got him in a trance. One hand is tied to the tightrope walker. And the riot squad, they need somewhere to go. As lady and I look out tonight from Desolation Row. Cinderella, she seems so easy. "It takes one to know one," she smiles. Bette Davis style. You're in the wrong place my friend, you'd better leave. After the ambulances go. Cinderella sweeping up on Desolation Row. The moon is almost hidden, the stars are beginning to hide. The fortune telling lady and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Everybody's making love or else expecting rain. He's getting ready for the carnival tonight on Desolation Row. Ophelia n'eath the window. On her 22nd birthday. To her, death his quite romantic. Her profession's her religion. She spends her time peeking into Desolation Row. Einstein disguised as Robin Hood, with his memories and his friend, a jealous monk. As he bummed a cigarette, sniffing drain pipes, and reciting the alphabet. You would not think, he was famous long ago, for playing the electric violin on Desolation Row. Doctor Filth, she's in charge of the cyanide. So you better watch out. Don't eat the guacamole, if you value your life. Punished for going to Desolation Row. Just had to cry for a little bit, there. Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot fighting in the tower. Fishermen hold flowers. Lovely mermaids flow, and nobody has to think too much about Desolation Row. Yes, I received your letter yesterday, about the time the doorknob broke. When you asked me how I was doing, was that some kind of joke? I had to rearrange their faces. Not unless you mail them from Desolation Row.