Soluble Fish

Of Pavlov

 Of฀Pavlov Tidy,฀but฀toothed—like฀a฀tiger in฀a฀hairnet—incongruous!—that’s฀us. Not฀the฀clockwork฀slip฀of฀gear฀to฀gear but฀like฀pilots฀jettisoned฀from฀a฀cockpit, wearing฀seatbelts฀for฀safety฀and฀pretending there’s฀no฀whirlwind฀eddy,฀no฀breathlessness, just฀the฀familiar฀voice฀of฀the฀financial฀planner, prepared฀for฀every฀eventuality.฀Uh-huh. Tell฀that฀to฀Rufus฀Godwin฀whose฀fox-hunting฀dog disappeared฀near฀Pensacola฀with฀the฀anti-theft electronic฀collar฀still฀b-b-b-beeping,฀leading trackers฀to฀the฀stomach฀of฀a฀'฀"฀alligator. Imagine฀it—poor฀“Flojo”฀snapped฀up฀mid-howl along฀the฀game฀trail.฀In฀all,฀seven฀collars฀found inside฀the฀gator’s฀insides,฀a฀muffled฀fugue,฀small aftershocks฀of฀the฀canine฀wails฀that฀must’ve sounded,฀to฀reptilian฀ears,฀like฀dinner฀bells— everything฀being฀a฀matter฀of฀perspective— like฀Captain฀Hook’s฀nemesis, the฀tick-tock฀of฀hungers฀that฀won’t฀be฀quelled, primitive฀croc฀and฀gator฀patrolling billabong฀and฀bayou,฀taking฀on฀all฀comers, all฀for฀the฀sake฀of฀the฀belly,฀of฀breeding— not฀what฀my฀English฀grandmother฀meant by฀that฀word.฀Ah,฀this฀torque฀of฀body฀and฀mind— the฀growling฀stomach฀trying฀to฀keep฀time with฀a฀wind-up฀metronome,฀winding฀down. Darwin฀right,฀after฀all—what฀works฀works. And฀what฀works฀will฀prevail,฀despite the฀gator฀harpooned฀and฀trussed฀and฀slung  into฀a฀truck,฀jaws฀duct-tapped฀shut.฀Despite the฀tenacity,฀the฀energy฀of฀that฀collar— still฀going!—the฀toothed฀and฀leathery, old,฀old฀hunger,฀utterly฀unimpressed฀by electronics.฀Feel฀it—that฀swamp฀smell฀bellow. ...