FOUR FLUSHER !

the train leaves martinez on time. six fourty eight.
i take a window seat. within an hour the gentle back
and forth swaying puts me to sleep.
at fresno two young men sit in the opposite seats.
josh introduces himself and his pal jimmie.
they are students at fresno state travelling to watch
the yankees play the angels in anaheim.
both are life long fans from jersey

at hanford i step off to stretch and look around.
it is very hot very humid. next stop corcoran.
there a middle age man gets on. he asks if the seat next
to me is free. i say yes. he sits and places a blackbrief
case in the space between us. " the name's father dan
pleased to meet you ". he is wearing a colorful shirt

father dan opens the case and takes out a bible
a pint flask a deck of cards and sets them on the
center table. he reads a bible passage to himself and
removes the flasks cap " to our health gentlemen ! "
he takes a swig. jimmie and josh look at each other.
father dan says " love the sinner and hate the sin "
i laugh. he recaps the flask puts it back in the case
and says " judge not lest ye be judged "

as the train pulls into wasco father dan smiles " will you
young men humor an old man and play a card game ?"
before we can answer he removes the deck from its box
shuffles it three times and deals us five cards each.
" we'll play four flusher a simple child's game " he says
while arranging his hand and nodding at josh to start

after several rounds there is an announcement
" ladies and gentlement we will be arriving at bakerfields
in thirty minutes. thirty minutes to bakersfield ".
father dan takes his turn and says " young men i am
going tell you a secret ". he smiles and lowers his voice
" gentlemen once you reach fifty years of age
make love to a young woman every full moon "

he takes a photo from his shirt pocket and sets it
on the table. josh picks it up whistles then passes it
to jimmie. father dan says " that's tiffany. i minister
at the prisons. coalinga corcoran wasco. up and down
the valley. but every full moon i'm in bakersfield "

jimmie gives me the picture. she is pretty and blond
and is wearing a short purple skirt and nothing else.
wow ! father dan " she's seventeen. we go walking
in the hills. hold hands. cook food. listen to hank williams.
and fuck and fuck and fuck. but i'm thinking of stopping
until she's eighteen ". jimmie grins

i say " father you've got to kidding. you've already
robbed the bank and now you don't want to spend
the money ! what's up with that ?" father dan slaps
the table and laughs " hey that's a good one !
never looked at it that way. i want to remember that !"

the train begins to slow. there is an annoucement
" ladies and gentlement we are entering bakersfield
station. please check the overhead compartment and
beneath your seat for all baggage. we are now entering
bakersfield station. the last stop "

i look at my cards and take my turn. father dan is next.
he studies his cards for a moment and places them all
on the table. diamonds. eight through four. josh whistles.
father dan smiles broadly leans back in his seat and says

" four flusher !"

THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL

i have just returned from a camping trip and
my friend i highly recommend such an excursion.
fresh air is breathed. forest and trees are seen.
wildlife is observed. there were hot springs to soak in
and a swimming pool for splashing about. but very best
of all dear reader there was a wide variety of people
available for social interaction and on my last night
the following occurred :

i spent several hours with dawn a fascinating woman
who has her head in the clouds. while laying on a carpet
of fallen leaves i proved that i am the greatest writer
no one knows and we sang beatles songs and watched
the wind cry mary as it passed above

evening brought thoughts of food and i said lets go to
the kitchen and cook. she agreed. as we entered the
hot springs area dawn met a friend. once introductions
were made i went to prepare dinner. a simple meal of
white rice celery garlic carrots and lots and lots of
olive oil spiced with hot chiles

my prescence in the kitchen caught the attention of
svetlana. a beauty from belarus whose voice reminded
me of natasha from the rocky and bullwinkle show.
i invited her to join me. she accepted. i sat a large plate
on the communal table removed the top from the
cooking pot inverted it over the plate and shook it
the aroma and sight of food brought oohs and aahs
from others at the table. i told them to join us.

havad a lovely armenian woman possessing sad
yet seductive eyes and simon a guy who looks like
peter falk of the colombo teevee show came over
the usual chit chat ensued between mouthfuls of food.
asked what i did for a living i conspiratorially said
i could not tell because its a pop secret. but as
a consolation i offered that in my spare time and to pass
the day i am the greatest writer no one knows

svetlana laughed then asked if i were joking. i replied
that unlike the man who will tell her he is a producer
and can make her a starlet i can prove what i say.
at that moment dawn arrived and joined us. with a
proper audience of three woman and one man
i recited a tale that quite impressed everyone

later svetlana asked my opinion of obama. i put my arm
across her blond hair covered shoulders and said
that after obama is elected all foreigners are going to be
sent out. but i will declare her my mistress and give
her father a federal contract to paint the white house black

i pointed at simon and said since he is as cool a guy
as colombo i would make him our driver and valet and
told him to practice saying " yes sir bossman "
needless to say a very good laugh was had and
the ice was thoroughly broken and evaporated

after eating i suggested we go splash about in the pool.
the lovely havad and beautiful svetlana enthusiastically
agreed. since clothing is entirely optional we tossed
them onto a poolside bench and jumped into the water.
a full moon peeked above the forested hillside and
the night air was warm

first svetlana then havad backstroked to and fro as i
bobbled up and down watching and thinking.
thinking that after a night like this what could be left
in life and that when back home i should get a syringe
full of heroin and say good bye cruel world

why ?

because after the experience i described
nothing remains but the downward spiral