what’re we spose to do ’bout it…out of ideas…it’s almost like you get to a point where nothin’ matters in this world…willin’ to just let things go…slip right by ya without even pausing for a second to look and see if you’re in the clear…, the fat man said as he loaded sugar into his coffee…,and it’s not like we haven’t been here ‘fore…, the moon glowed outside the diner’s window…, there’s this thing ’bout us that keeps on repeating throughout life…ya have one tragedy you’re bound to have a few more…can’t stop it…just the way life is…,he motioned to the waitress to fill his cup…smiled…added cream from the little packets on the table…,hell…I been tryin’ for years to figure it out…could be generational…folks just stopped carin’…won’t even open a door for ya anymore…in fact they’ll shut it in your face and go ’bout laughin’…just not any manners anymore…very uncarin’ society…sounds like I’m preachin’ huh…, the young man sitting across the table from him smiled…slurped on a Coke through a straw…, all this progress…seems to me we’re goin’ backwards…

backwards…

yeah…backwards…then again…maybe I was just as cocky when I was a kid…just can’t remember it…the mind plays tricks on ya…, a semi put on it’s air brakes makin a screechin’ sound…now the moon was covered in clouds…the fat man man blew his big red nose with a handkerchief he pulled from his hip pocket…took another swig of coffee while a group of younguns come through the door…all of ’em decked out in letterman’s jackets from the nearby high school…big S’s on their chests…whoopin’ and a hollerin’ ’bout beatin’ the other team…typical Friday night in the Midwest…

see what I mean…

what’s that…

nothin’s done with any nobility anymore…guy makes a touchdown the whole team celebrates in the end zone…dancin’ and carryin’ on…actin’ a fool…and they do the same things at board meetings and bar rooms ‘cross this country…a whole country of people spikin’ the ball ‘stead of handin’ it to the ref as though they’d been there before…, waitress walked over with the coffee pot…the fat man placed his hand above the cup and shook his head no…placed a dollar bill on the table and stood up…adjusting his pants…

where ya goin’…

goin’ for a ride… gonna chase the moon…’bout all I have to look forward to anymore…it’ll come out from behind those clouds soon enough…I’m gonna watch it turn into sun…