Conjunctions:40 40x40

Two Stories
The Intimate Story of One Woman and Five Men

She wipes men. Three, four of them are robusta-bodied black or whitish. They’re cushion-like, semi-tender.
     Eight or twelve are peppy and stimulating.
     She makes a remark which is a thin expansion relating to the back or lower side of her triumphs.
     She doesn’t style her hair, try to dress well, or mind her weight.
     She has a curvy nose and a tremula punctata face. She pushes and turns men.
     Her business is real estate.
     Rain has come and not gone. A rodent washes itself on the school roof in the rain.
     She wears no adornments. Her teeth are tan. How can she be so successful and too innocent?
     The rain covers quickly the windows of her house. The animal on the rooftop wanders. Come back! You hear me? The rain shines. The physical bulkiness of the rain is a fact. Now like an old turtle, the woman has been open to all sorts of advantages. Now like a human, she has followed the drawings, the diagrams, the instructions every step of the way and she has been torresiana.


 



The Bigger Bulk It Shows

He put his heart to his shoulder and keeps his heart shouldered as he looks for Emmeline who’s a person in the parlor of a cottage. She’s less spare and brighter than Anita. I never mentioned either one of them to you. I’m sorry. I should have.
     He gives up that looking because it is a huge responsibility to go to his office where Mr. German is often ready of a rhubarb.
     Mr. German shows him what he needs to do to get a job done, what he must be prepared to do when the job is finished. The actual job activity is encountered, ended, compiled, illustrated day-by-day.
     He walks to an empty desk. New bushings must be made. (Our family isn’t pleased with his results.)
     Finally, he goes up the corridor where he meets a pal who acts friendly boldly. See. Stay. Go, which runs us all ragged.
     At home later he heats a delicious meal and he watches a lot of television.
     The buzzing he hears is not on account of a flesh-fly, although a flesh-fly does go up his corridor to a bedroom and en route the flesh-fly hears the buzzing too.
     We recognize the concerns of the community.
     We remain concerned about the safety of all people in our region.
     The buzzing conveys a marvelous sense of swarming. Greed, generosity, impropriety, sugar. Food. Heat. Savory and prosperous.
     We may liken this to the condition of love which encourages its participants to distinguish between classifications.
     He thinks, I am thinking of something. This is steering knuckles, greasy bearings, and three machines.
     This information is furnished to give a clear picture of one person. Some days are busy. A typical week is a collection of opportunities to live just like they do in the movies, even if he is tired out emotionally. Yes, but the urgent business of the morning, the routine chores reach such a pitch. This I want to highlight for everyone in the United States. Because I’m telling you because of his busy schedule it is my understanding that risks, a crime—I talked to my wife about it. My wife said. Talking and joking. Cook. Eat. Make telephone calls. Practice being.

Diane Williams edits NOON. Her Collected Stories (Soho Press) is available in paperback. A new book of her stories, How High?—That High, is due out from Soho Press in fall 2021She is the recipient of four Pushcart Prizes.