Issue 7:
Play
Ron Gibson, Jr.
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Then and Now
On sticky summer afternoons, when our parents were away at work, a group of neighborhood friends and I would sneak up into my dusty attic and open steamer trunks littered with colorful tags from other countries. They were left behind by my great-grandmother, and held musty, mothball-smelling clothing. We would dress up, with the urging of the girls, like munchkin aristocrats, playing "Tea Party" and "House." But when playtime was over, we could slip out of the ancient garments, and re-enter the world as ourselves, again.
Sometimes I still think back to those days, and compare them to my present days full of meetings with cantankerous bosses, comp techs speaking electronic tongues, lukewarm coffee, lost shipments, squeaky fanbelts, disabled email accounts, clogged interstates, cashiers demanding three forms of identification, root canals, razor burn, migraine headaches, divorce proceedings, child support payments, playing weekend dad, inflated electric bills, rising gasoline threats, lawncare complaining neighbors, high cholesterol levels, International standoffs, Doomsayer recessions, rising interest rates, electoral debacles, holiday get-togethers, tax audits, and ulcers. And by the end, I realize there's no costume to take off. I can only drink a beer, take a hot shower, and mumble, "I don't wanna play House anymore."
~Ron Gibson, Jr.
Ron has also recently had work included in Andrei Codrescu's Exquisite Corpse and Driver's Side Airbag. Email.
© 2001 by Ron Gibson, Jr. All Rights Reserved.
© 2000-2002 by Cayuse Press. All Rights Reserved.
This page updated April 30, 2002.