7185. AND NO

AND NO

And, no, I've never gone swimming in a sea of lies,

though I've walked over waters of untruths and

exaggerations : same thing, maybe. They divide the

cards at this table, in half : like drunk gamblers, it

all brings a satisfaction to each one there. They

can laugh off everything. One night, I can recall,

I was lost, in the rain, late at night, just out of

Philadelphia  -  driving a car, just like that. All

I could do, it seemed, was drive in circles  -  some

little waste-off town in the middle of nothing but

water and garbage trucks running truckloads of

midnight wastes. I always wondered where those

big highway trucks went  -  'Municipal Waste' is

all they ever say on the side. Any minute, I was

certain, another table of those guys would be found,

at this bayside marina here, where I saw all the boats,

rocking in the rain. But there was no one around, and

I remained confused. I finally saw a guardsman's car,

with the little yellow flasher on top  -  I pulled up to

him, and rolled down the window to say ' how do I

get out of here?' The guy was rumpled, but, through

his own rainy window, he said : 'How'd you get in?

That'll have to be the same way to take you out; there's

only one road.' As it turned out, he was probably that

gambler I'd been looking for  -  he said 'follow me', 

and he drove me out through the pouring rain.