The Uses of Collaboration
Jackie, Rhea, & Tomlinson were my best friends. We thought with one brain, really, the results were just a bit different in terms of their, tenors, Jackie said, swerves, Rhea said, effects, Tomlinson said, ever the drudge. There were no crosses for miles around—Jackie liked to joke that if the Romans had built the first one well enough that Jesus would still be dead. Rhea considered this. Tomlinson demurred. So, we set about it, the sun groping like a prig. Sturdy, Jackie said, Expansive, Rhea said, A concatenation of tools, Tomlinson said, and reached for his billingsgate. The result was similar to one of those kundalini gestalts, a weeping for Tammuz. I was, for my age, spry with a hammer. Let's get married, Jackie said, Let's pray, Rhea said, I can't go on, Tomlinson said, this splinter, this viskebaugh. We knew we were technocrats & murderers, prodigal spirals, though there was no proof at all & the vultures, smooth as opal, kept their distance. Eucharist whores, Jackie said, Eucharist fags, Rhea said, Eucharist trenchcoats, Tomlinson said. The grass grew like crazy in Arkansas and Tennessee.
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