AARVO GASTINAARD
Soft on the sofa and heavy on the meatloaf,
they were teaching mnemonics in the schoolroom
while forty kids yelled out something obscene. I
wasn't really there to tell you about it, but I can
make things up if that helps. Up high, along the
ceiling, someone had spray-painted 'ape-shit rat
bastards', saying it was a memory device to help
on tests. No one batted an eye - the last one they'd
used had to be replaced anyway, having been all
battered and soggy by now through vast over-use.
The teacher (a dumb-limbed man from Elberon)
was reading aloud from 'The Memory Palace of
Matteo Ricci', but no one listened. In that book,
the author relates how some 600 years ago or so,
this fellow in China found a means of memorizing
the placement of every item in a room (way before
photography, y'understand) by using memory
devices to situate each item. Not sure what the hell
that really meant anyway, not one of the kids
showed to care. One Molly Bloom had lifted her
skirt to show boys her twat - 'Memorize this, it's all
I've got!' she sang to them. Another fine lad named
Jimmy called out to his Aunt for a gimme 'Give me
five minutes with your hundred pound cunt - never
again will you call me a runt!'. Yes, yes, he was heard
to say. Anyway, that's how it went. A long, long time
ago, and I made it all up, but I bet you'll never forget it.
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