“Here’s what I have to have:”
When Betty said:
“I have to have _________”,
I knew then and there
NOT to question her.
Like when she said:
“Wayne said that THAT chair was made by a fancy designer”,
which meant that
she’d HAVE to have
ten dollars.
It was a five hundred dollar
Bertoia Chair by Knoll.
jajaj jaj
I used to go
to this little
family owned thrift store
and when i saw something I wanted,
Betty looked me
right in the eyes
and told me
what she had to have,
or more accurately,
“Wayne said I’d have to have _____”.
She got it too,
she named and claimed
her stake in the life
that she wanted.
I filled my old antique store;
RESURRECTION ANTIQUES
AND OTHER WORLDLY POSSESSIONS
IN THE CHURCH
OF THE LIVING ROOM
with shit from there,
and from wherever
it appeared to me.
It was so much Fun!
I was always having
to be on the lookout
for cool shit,
and fun ways
to acquire them,
and share stories
about their acquisition.
One time,
I decided to head out alone
to roam the East
looking for cool finds,
to take from places
where no one wanted them,
and bring back
to a place
that I could create
a vignette to where
everyone wanted them.
Well,
my loser-ass friends,
i mean,
my friends,
decided that they too
wanted to join in,
and make it
an adventure.
In Soddy-Daisy,
Tennessee,
I saw this old
1972 Ford F-100
baby-blue truck,
that I immediately named
THE BLUE ANGEL,
that I HAD to have.
I told the owner
that I would pay his price,
plus $200.00,
and that I would HAVE
to write him
a bad check
because my checking account
was empty.
I told him
that he could keep the title
and mail it to me
when he received
my GOOD check.
He gave me the keys,
I drove it off,
laughing.
It WAS wild!
I told him that
I would deposit money
in the account
the minute I returned
to Atlanta.
I drove
THE BLUE ANGEL
up the highway,
and one of my friend’s
followed me
in my original truck,
looking for fun shit.
Two hours up the road,
the other friend
spotted this
1974 White Scout International
with a removable top,
For Sale,
on the side of the road.
Well,
She HAD to have it,
offered the man
a bad check
with promises
to make it good
when she,
too,
returned to Atlanta.
She got the keys,
and the three of us
convoyed it on back
to Atlanta,
laughing and honking,
all the way.
We sent Good Checks,
they sent Good Titles.
Don’t sit around defeated,
saying that if you only had
THIS or THAT,
then you could get
on down the highway.
Name what you want,
name the terms
that you can honestly acquire it,
take it,
and enjoy
the ride of your life.
It’s guaranteed
to be a wild one!
…assuming there is a god.