GOM: The Novel ... Chapter 1

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Humans are so adaptable and humans 

have the capability of  speech 

that declares as much.

But all species are adaptable 

and have some form of speech.

Since we cannot understand the lingo

of the lynx or the buffalo,

we call them non-communicants.

 

What singles out humans is the need to state—

through their vaulted powers of speech—

their undeniable superiority to all other species. 

This is what psychologists call

an indelible sign of an inferiority complex.

Ask any commuter at rush hour who is moving

less than one mile an hour but looks up

to a sky full of birds flying free-form 

with no bottlenecked

lanes of flight.

     

Ask that bottlenecked commuter

which is the superior species.

     

Mr. Bottleneck (or Ms. Bottleneck) would,

of course, add a qualifier:

But has any bird ever created

a printing press or a computer?

The answer is no bird has ever had 

a need to invent such things.

*** 

Get yourself into a hellish environment

and conclude soundly:

This is no time

to act like

an angel.

Get yourself into a segue

and conclude soundly:

This is the time

for a non-sequitir. 

***

We were ninety miles out of Memphis

and there was a hotel.

We got a room and did

what was to be done

in a hotel room.

The next morning,

driving with freeway cruise control, 

Memphis was more three hours away.

The ninety miles was correct

but there was a single digit

in the hundreds column.

I was correct for believing

in those Ninety miles

I was only incomplete

in my thinking.

I was a half-wit,

slightly less than

half-accurate.

She said:

No bird has ever had any need

to qualify such misjudgments.

***

Exiting Tennessee,

we cross the De Soto Bridge

into Arkansas.

Exiting Memphis,

we cross the De Soto Bridge

into West Memphis.

Mississippi River seagulls

welcomed us across the border.

They guano-ed the windshield.

***

Paul Oliverio

 

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Footnotes

GOM: THE NOVEL is the copyrighted property of LCSoL. 

GOM =  GodFather of Math.

Chapter 2 is  here.

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