Looks like I'll get out of here tomorrow,Thursday morning. Bus leaves around 10 A.M. and not that terribly far to Tulsa.
Tulsa offers: a Salvation Army you can stay at as long as you wish. The Sally here closed down the very day I arrived, so if that ain't a "sign," don't know what is. Also, a Community Center for reading, hanging, etc. Don't have that here in Ft. Smith. Plus lots of temp labor.
More Notes:
I am sitting in a tilted van
And the rain is coming down.
The engine has been removed
And I stare out into the night
Feeling like I'm looking out the throat
Of something.
The branches of the walnut tree
Slam against it
Waking me up some minutes ago
Thinking, cops?
This place feels almost sacred
Refuge, almost safe
And I can look out the back windows
And see the hungry cops cruising by
Looking for starving fish to fry.
The approach is critical:
It's a one-way street,
So walk past the van
Then come back facing
Traffic.
When nothing is there
A quick duck and fast walk
And a tug of that handle
And you're in.
Unload the bag.
The notebook with folded shirt
Is the pillow.
The long-sleeved shirt is blanket.
And the bag emptied
With handles tied
Warms the feet
And protects against mosquitoes.
The tilt is not that bad.
The wheels gone on one side
Seats ripped out and piled alongside.
Just enough space
For a tramp-poet to lie.
The branches scrape along the side
Slap the windows.
They make a sound like a moaning
Like a string being bowed on some instrument.
But at least it's safe
When the rain is coming down like this.
I sit up and watch it all come down
And wait until it eases up.
Eventually, I sleep.
Only to awaken to voices
Of men not 30 yards away
Loading a truck.
Slept-in. Not good.
I dress for the day
Pack it all up
And slip out the mouth
Through the throat of that van.
The walnut branches are down
Far enough, to conceal me.
When I emerge into the day
I am walking down an alley.
This is how today began.
###
This place is toooooo small. The bicycle cop stopped to "chat me up" down by the river the other day, and my heart was thumping away. I'd been warned about him way back in Muskogee. Talked bicycle shop for ten minutes or so, me in charming-mode. Yesterday, I was sitting downstairs in the library when I heard a cop radio. Peeked around the corner and there he was again. And half an hour or so ago as I was walking up here, I came around the corner and there he was again. Hi, I said. Saw ya at the library yesterday. You a reader? And he started talking about doing talking books as he lives 40 miles away. The light changed and I wished him a great day, then strode away as if with purpose, going somewhere.
Gotta get out of here. I want the anonymity of a much larger place. It will come. Am always on edge here, just as I was in Muskogee.
Will run. Luvya.
Will give you a shout from Tulsa. My best to most.
Dickens3X
