Saturday may 3, 2008
cold moonlight framed in wind and noise. a steady beat along the rails. Lawson pulled a bottle of red wine from somewhere in that makinaw and handed it to chet. after a long and hard pull it was my turn. our stomachs empty for days. a summer night sitting on top of freight car somewhere east of the mississipi. i felt like an old timer in 1965. I had walked that lincoln highway that spring and come back for more. we had been lookin' for a new ride for a while. this train kept a rollin' all night long. I wanted to walk forward now that the wine had warmed me up. as i walked towards the engine we passed thru some mountains. I turned and saw my shadow in moonlight on the side of the mountain. i must have been a hundred feet tall. In the morning Lawson gave me this little blue book. He took his short red hair and his makinaw and jumped from the train as soon as the beat slowed down. Chet has been doggin me ever since he died in 1969, just like he did when we were kids. some friends are loyal. I still have this book after all that has been lost. I don't know why. .April 15 came and went this year. most people thought about taxes. I thought about the road. I always do. I thought about it years before while sitting in class daydreaming. it was wired and written, i had no choice.

For Chet
thanks