Arcadio Read Free Page B

lived before my mother left me. I know that I am now outside that town because I remember this trestle rising up high out of the river waters, today when first I come upon it trestle was higher to me than ever I remembered it and its long thin legs comin up out of the old bottomland seemed like twas made of paper when first I seen it, lonesome bridge of orange rails and gray ties, tis a lonesome pier areachin over a white riverbed of shell, a vision seemed to me when first I seen it, seen the trestle. And under the trestle as I got closer come bloomin up out of the white shell of the dry riverbed morningglories and honeysuckles and trumpetvines all abloomin in the early morning light. And into this visión I took my seat, sat down to rest and play my frenchharp. And you come.
    And I remember the train passin over and the blue thicket of trees where are they all now who did this seems like somebody burnt up a lots of the trees, dry trees lots of dry trees among the green ones I hate a dry tree, Devil got it. And greedy rich men helped him. And I know I am now outside that little town where I was borned because I hear the rumble of it, must have grown severely for I don remember a rumble when I lived there with mi madre Chupa before she run away. Who did that? I never been back since, after my mother run away from us, for my father Hombre took me on to a town that I will later sing you if you wan hear it, if not I’ll tell it to the air, as I have said earlier, it is the singing that is important to me. I wonder if I’m tryin to come back home, to where I started, wonder if that’s in my head, travelin at large. As a traveler with the Show, in my cheap wagon—have I ever told you about my Show Wagon? I’ll have to tell you sometime. I said why the iron bars on my wagon windows Señor Shanks, why the big lock on my door, is this wagon for Heracles the old lion feroz for God’s sakes? You wan to get raped or beat up some night? said Shanks. Some nights it’s a thought, I murmured. Shanks riled. Bars on Heracles’s wagon, he riled, is to keep him in , on yours to keep them out . Well one way not to keep em out is to make it look like a whore wagon, I said to Shanks. All the glass jewels of rubies and sapphires, tin moons and golden leaf paint. Yet a hovel inside. Course you don wan em in my wagon, see a pig sty, gold leaf and glass jewels on the outside, broken bed inside and roaches that travel as if twere part of the Show. We’ll fix the bed, Shanks riled, we’ll fix it I keep tellin you. You keep tellin me, I answered. People see glass and tin shinin for a mile away in the bright sunshine, see what you’d think was gypsy whores movin in the night, sparklin under the moon. No wonder they stoned it that time outside of Hannibal Mis-soura. Is why we have on the lock and iron bars, like I’ve told told you, says Shanks, gettin hysterical. You could not win with Shanks (nor could those bars keep him out when he’d had a few rums and Cokes, I can tell you, you wan hear?). As a traveler with the Show I was in almost every town and city of this old nation. This was in the nineteen hundred and thirties and the nineteen hundred and forties and the nineteen hundred and fifties. I believe the time of my excape, of becoming at large, was in the nineteen hundred and sixties, no tengo por seguro . I am not for sure. I know that right now as I sing to you it is in the nineteen hundred and seventies, near the end, it may be nineteen hundred and eighty I don know, nobody comes up to me and says what year it is. I only know that this old world is wearing out. I sing a sweet adiós to it. Cantando, compadre. Canto . You wan hear.

4
Come Back to the Show
    IT COULD BE SAID that I have run away from the Show. The word excaped was used by some, I’m sure. Oh they looked for me. That Tarrance Shanks surely shined his light in the bushes. One night right after I departed—which is a smart