Pilot Light and Commingled [Jeans]
I lit the pilot light for the umpteenth time since summer. Weve found the water cold in the mornings, and I, groggy in my robe, must lie on the concrete slab of the basement and light the elusive and tiny bud of gas. It reminds me of another elusive and tiny bud.
Once lit, I twist a knob from pilot to on and jets of gas lick the now lit clit and a plume of fire ignites. Mollys shower will be warm in fifteen minutes. She can sleep in, hit snooze again.
Today, I am concerned about the washing machine. I have instructions to wash a pair of jeans separately. I decide it seems lonely in the suds vat, so I throw a pair of my jeans in for company. My instructions are cold. I dont know why. I think, Well, at least I dont need hot water, in case the pilot light is out. This makes me turn around and crawl to the rats eye view of the pilot light. It is out.
We are about to have our Anniversary, Molly. Theres that Sundays song, Heres Where the Story Ends, with the line, Its that little souvenir/from a terrible year in my head. It has NOT been a terrible year. Its been a wonderful year for us, our marriage. Look! We have come through! D.H. Lawrence would say. But the world around us has been sad. Your work has been sad. My family has been sad. The nation has been sad.
People will look back on history at this time and think, God, America really sucked back then! They will look to fraudulent leaders in fraudulent times and be grateful that things changed for the better. They will be happy that the poor and dispossessed were cared for and educated, and wonder how we could have been so ignorant back then.
Thats the future. Thats my version of the future. Its what sustains me. It sustains me to think, The world will be o.k., again, someday, because well wise up and no one will ever threaten my happiness, my wife, my children. In our arms, our children will learn quickly and sign language to us: I want banana with peanut butter AND chocolate! We will watch them grow up and skin their knees and throw up and get laid and do good. Thats our future. I have unwavering certainty.
So, on this Anniversary, I say, Congratulations! Youve suffered through a terrible year, but heres a souviner: Whatever happens, Molly, I will be there to push the bad away from you, to draw you to the good. We will succeed like no others, for obvious reasons."
Love,
Shuggies Ghost