me - a fragment

by nick nelson

my dad was bad, my mom was good we lived in a nasty neighborhood ruled by men who smoked cigars and read the racing form, not the stars dad was a man of few words and did not like to be disturbed he was the master of his space and of weakness showed no trace i see him sitting at his table upright as long as he was able to ride the tides of gin and beer pouring through him, year after year mrs johnson lived upstairs and we heard her saying prayers at any time of night or day to the lord she had a lot to say mrs morris lived across the hall - she was a total loss behind her door we heard her sighs was she a princess in disguise? i had ideas above my station and was filled with determination to climb the ladder of success to have white teeth and be well dressed to the library every night i went and long hours there i spent absorbing the wisdom of the ages from famous prophets, saints, and sages all my efforts were for nought everything i read i soon forgot with brains i was not blessed and i could not pass the tests invented by people in towers who must have spent long hours laughing at chumps like me whose failure was their destiny by day i worked at placing cans on shelves according to a plan devised by some faraway machine to do this job i was not keen though i had little enthusiasm i worked without obvious spasms of rage. rebellion, or hate and seemed to accept my fate it made my blood run cold to be always and forever told how lucky i was to be employed and not be swallowed by the void one day i went for a walk down along the docks the sky and water were gray civilization seemed far away and it still does in my head i feel a buzz that is all for today maybe some day i will find my way

the master

by nick nelson

the great emperor felt the earth trembling under his feet. he summoned his four wise counselors. why is the earth trembling under my feet? he asked the counselors. because a mighty army is approaching from the north, said the first wise counselor. what should i do? the emperor asked. raise a mighty army of your own, replied the first counselor. i already have a mighty army of my own, the emperor said. he turned to the second counselor and asked him - why is the earth trembling under my feet? because the great mountain to the west is beginning to crumble, said the second counselor, and when it is gone, floods of barbarians will overwhelm the kingdom. what should i do? the emperor asked the second wise counselor. bribe the chiefs of the barbarians with sacks of gold, the counselor replied. i am already doing that, said the emperor. they are already getting all the gold that all my slaves can mine. he turned to the third wise counselor and asked - why is the earth trembling under my feet? because a maiden is approaching from the east, said the third counselor. she is riding a mule, and she is bringing a message that will cause the earth and sky to split apart. what should i do? asked the emperor. should i have her intercepted, and hanged before she can deliver her message? the third counselor shook his head. the gods whose message she brings might not like that. perhaps you should wait, and hear the message that she brings, and hope that the earth does not split too close to your feet, and that the sky does not split too close to your head. you are not very helpful, the emperor told the third counselor. he turned to the fourth wise counselor, and asked him - why is the earth trembling under my feet? a master is approaching from the south, said the fourth counselor, bringing a message of his own. he should arrive in three days. perhaps we should wait to hear what he has to say. that sounds like good advice, said the emperor. we will meet again in three days. three days later, the emperor was again seated on his throne, with his four wise counselors beside him, and the master who had arrived from the south, a rather ordinary looking individual with a long gray beard, was brought before him. why is the earth trembling under my feet? the emperor asked the master. because the earth is under your feet, the master replied. the emperor was not amused. look here, fellow, he told the master, i have been listening to such so called pearls of wisdom from the likes of you all my weary life. i want something a little more definite. i think, the first wise counselor interposed, his celestial majesty would appreciate some specific ideas as to how to stop the earth trembling under his feet. oh, well, in that case replied the master, heed my words - first - gather all the frogs in the kingdom and have then turned into wolves. second - gather all the redhaired maidens in the kingdom and have them turned into lions. third - gather all the cats in the kingdom and have them turned into silver goblets. fourth - have all the water in all the rivers of the kingdom - that is quite enough, the second wise counselor interrupted. how do you imagine we are to do all that? why, said the master, do you not have magicians at your disposal? or at least one master magician? we thought that you were the master, said the third wise counselor. and that perhaps you could perform some magic? i am not the master, said the man who had been brought before the emperor and the four counselors. i am not a magician, and i am not even a magician’s apprentice. who then are you? the fourth wise counselor asked. i am only a poor peasant, and the master is only my dream. a dream? the emperor asked. yes, a dream i had thirty years ago, when i was just a poor goatherd’s assistant. i was caught in a rainstorm with the goatherd’s daughter, and he gave me a tremendous thrashing. when he was done i crawled beneath a pile of hay and began to dream… listen, and you can hear the raindrops falling…

the wanderer

by nick nelson

a farmer’s dog discovered a fox and chased it out of the farmyard and on to the high road. the fox climbed a tree on the other side of the road. the dog clawed at the trunk of the tree and barked at the fox. a wanderer came down the road, and encountered the dog and the farmer looking up at the fox in the tree. the wanderer said, if that dog were a cat, it could climb the tree. the wanderer passed on. the farmer and the fox watched him disappear down the road, in the direction of the mountain. the wanderer came to a house by the side of the road, that was on fire. a widow and her three children and a dog were standing outside the house, watching it burn. if the house had been made of water, the wanderer said, it would not have burned. the wanderer continued down the road. the widow and the children watched him go, but the smoke from the fire obscured his path. the wanderer came to another farmer, and yet another dog. they were gazing sadly at a barren field, whose wheat had been devoured by locusts. if the locusts had been rose petals, said the wanderer, they would not have devoured the wheat. the farmer nodded, the dog barked once, not very loudly, and the wanderer continued on his way. next the wanderer encountered a wise man seated on a rock, with a book in his hands. the wise man was weeping. nobody wishes to read my book, he said to the wanderer, though it filled with wisdom. if the book were a beautiful maiden, the wanderer replied, many would wish to look upon it. the wanderer moved on, the mountain was now casting its shadow on the road. finally the wanderer came to the mountain, where the road ended. a single locust was seated by the side of the road . if that mountain were a river, the wanderer said, and i were a bird, i would fly across it.