Broken Glass

52 the minnesota review Harold Jaffe Broken Glass 1. You are led through the narrow corridor into the drafty high-ceilinged room. The freshly whitewashed walls are still moist. The lingering smell of a strong antiseptic. In the room's center: a single straightbacked chair beneath a glaring high-watt bulb. Steel fittings in the ceiling and in one of the walls. You are stripped and probed, then seated and trussed. Implements, application, pressure. You may eat but not scream. You stare at the images on the console. You register for the draft and apply for the mortgage loan. You upgrade your home with aluminum siding. You opt for the personalized license plate. After some deliberation you decide against cosmetic surgery but for Motherhood. You are now fifty. You are being appraised; as you fidget the bonds tighten. When at last you are about to speak, a lighted cigarette is slipped between your lips and you end up uttering: "Texas." 2. The torturer shakes hands with the provost then steps into the long car. He sets the slim leather case on the adjoining seat. He shucks off the wrapper of a rootbeer candy. The car starts at once. The torturer shakes hands with the Junta colonel in the closed room. The colonel smokes a cigarette. When it is over the torturer walks with long strides to the official car. The torturer shakes hands with the alderman at the airport. His slim leather case is filled with numerals. He has just returned from points south. The torturer shakes hands with the television host. He is telegenic. He is elucidating his department's posture to a trio of newspersons. The torturer shakes hands with the sycophants and junior careerists of his department. They are telegenic and carry slim cases nearly filled with numerals. Their cars start at once. The torturer kisses his wife, hugs his children, strokes the dog, runs a bath. jaffe 53 The executive nods his dense-haired head and two thousand doors clang shut irrevocably. What does the artist do? Choose one. _____ elude _____ transform _____ apply for the federal grant _____ have brunch The executive nods his sparse-haired head and two hundred thousand pairs of dark eyes are excised. What does the artist do? Choose one. _____ invest _____ divest _____ imprison on a silicon chip _____ have red wine with his midday meal The executive nods his toupeed head and a civilization of pregnant women are rendered void. What does the artist do? Choose one. _____ cite precedents _____ concede his impotence _____ apply for the private-sector grant _____ raid the fridge at midnight 4. —Tell me about this newest orthodoxy. -They're called BRIGHT. Haven't you seen their bumper-stickers? —I don't know. —You must have. The golden rays of the rising sun suffusing a standing cross, the vertical of which is a dollar sign. —I've seen it. — It's a trim little design. —They stand for? -BRIGHT, you mean? Their logo is Bread and Light under Christ. —How many are there? -They claim four million. Mostly in the South and Southwest. Though with unemployment and such, they say they're gaining converts throughout the country. —What inducements do they offer the unemployed? 54 the minnesota review —The traditional ones: faith and trust. — Faith in Christ and trust in— —The prevailing system. — Yes. How are they supported? —Donations and public and private sector grants. — Specifically. -All right. BRIGHT's three top sponsors this last fiscal year were, in order, Mobil Oil, Ma Bell and the federal government. — Uh-huh. Their membership include non-whites? —A handful. They're not encouraged. —And our Secretary of the Interior? You said he was keen? —Very. He's on the board. — Which doesn't constitute a conflict of interest? —Evidently not. What do you want to do? -What's left? —Terrorism is left. -Strike that. —Civil disobedience is left. Massive civil — — No. —Cunning is left. — Better. Cunning is better. Let's talk about cunning. —Over a drink? —Over a drink, over however many drinks it takes to get densely, clamorously cunning. Brecht was cunning. And, in his cell, Nietzsche was cunning. Also Lenin and...