Banjo by the Window
Jaimie's old house had boxes and boxes of stuff in the living
room. The creepy lace curtains conjured up glimpses of grandma's
panties, flapping on the clothesline. Next to the old-fashioned
segmented window was a banjo, no strings. It might have made a
good souvenir but I got the feeling whatever I found here, stays
here. The impotent instrument seemed to play a duet with the
translucent curtains, a song that was surely country-western in
nature. Banjo: "I got no strings and I'm all alone, my family's
left me on my own," Curtains: "I ain't been drawn in seven years,
no fingers have touched my lacey tears." Together: "It sure
is hard to be alone, we've got each other, but no one's home."
©
Philip Brubaker
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