Must a Violence

An Infection

14 An Infection An infection had crept in beneath the dermis and spread subcutaneously clinging to the underside of the skin. The underside of the skin was the ceiling of the infection. The infection may have come from too much scratching of the open wound, too much scratching of the sores clotted on the scalp. The infection may have come because the hot and crowded train did not have properly fresh head napkins on its seats. The infection may have come at the International Terminal while waiting with an empty wheelchair, sitting in an empty wheelchair to pass the time. * The selection at the lunch truck is not what you’d call extensive. 15 If only everyone could just take care of themselves and take cover from the wetness and rotting. If only everyone had the common sense and decency to find a shelter within their means and then keep the shelter clean and tidy. A poll was taken at the public library, the designated polling place of our precinct. But no officers dared hand out in person the summonses to jury duty; these they sent anonymously in the mail. * The lunch truck offered a special minestrone soup on Tuesdays and a giant cookie baked in the bowels of the truck. A person could lose himself if he didn’t take care if he willfully compromised his boundaries if he scratched and scratched 16 on a train crowded with sweat-drenched passengers. He touched the seats and chewed on his fingernails. He pushed the dirty public wheelchair of the self-appointed invalid. Chocolate mist rose from the truck’s bowels, enshrouded its workers. ...