En direct de St. John's University, Jamaica, New York...

THE SMALRUS WEB SITE v. 7.0

Opus of Prince Arthur and St. Laurent, No. 03
Movement 6, ("February 21")

Slush filled darkness abounds
On the ground and in my heart
We're going on a warm snap and it's okay not to have a scarf
Left the party early to find this spot,
The place I always come back to
I was supposed to leave here for another city
And in twelve months time, who knows if I'll end up there
Two cop cars parked in puddles
And although everyone is gone, this is no ghost town
No, it's as if this city thawed its cold veins and bled the life I feel for you
No tuque, no Chantelle
Police officer having friendly conversation with the owner expressed in the motions of his hands

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The ants crowd on the corner while exhaust fumes from jeeps
Have I run out of things to say; have I lost my voice?
Rather, I heard the blind recorder woman on Peel and Ste- Catherine was told to leave her spot
Rarely in this city can you trust whom you give your change to
The strains of her recorder notes were always something illiciting coins from my pocket
Her name is Louise
While the ants flock here in the evening, they pass her every day on their tasks
Enter the man who always finds and loses money
Chantelle had a conversation with him in French a few weeks ago
Suspect he went in there on a hypodermic mission

Four cute girls walk in, and another three follow
Their demeanour suggests first-year university students
Struck by the redheads who've made me smile and wave back
Oddly enough, they've decided to make their way over
It's interesting how the written word brings people together
More scribbles through their inquisition of my doings
And I've been reaffirmed of their statuses
Funny how the name of the game changes after introducing yourself
I've hit instant celebrity, being nicknamed, pictures taken, their words in my book...

"Ode to Spence-dog
Here ye, here ye,
you da COOLEST;
and thee bestest
thas dost ever
be.
AMEN!
-Trinity + Virgin Mary
what?!?"

107
They've lost interest and gone out the door to home
A couple has watched their fawning over me and laughed
The ponytail man's female "companion" has hobbled in on her cane, probably to shoot up with him
Chantelle says she's found their needles in the bathroom

These girls aren't coming back
They went out into the crowd with the rest of the ants,
Ephemeral like a flower
It forces me to wonder what causes things to leave and never return
What holds the nature of the universe to be like this?
Wonder if you'll ever return to me
Cute and enebriated
The look on the barrister's face said it all
And the woman who was staring at me talking to those girls
Notices the way I stare when I observe
Recall my "observing" your eyes, your smile
Eminem plays on the radio but will he be playing in 40 years
Reminds me of my roommate who's gone home
Or my former roommate and his friend, who have come home here to roost for the weekend

The ants have dispersed
The 363 makes another pass up St-Laurent
And I have yet to see the requisite moving sexual billboard
Fur coat, tight jeans, pink scarf over her head, white stillettos and cigarette
White Escalade EXT pick up, souped up
Rolls by, tinted windows down for bastards to hoot
Guillaume assumed I'd known the girls and casually observes that visually the guy goes over
I've never been the guy to go over
If that was my nature, I'd maybe not be the guy to sit in coffee shops on saturday nights
Snowball fight!
Attention mes amis!
Two guys stand out, arms flailing to the homme cache down the street

The sirens go off, the lights flash
Traffic is backed up for the police cars to get through
Alcohol fuelled rant gone awry
The man from the laundromat sees me as he walks by and stops, backtracks, and waves to me in the window
Now there's an ambulance, now a fire truck
And the coffee guy of old, Thobey, came in telling me it was because of a fight in the pizza place next door
As always, it's the Americans causing the ruckus
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Rachel has left for the end of the party
Reflect on warmer weather, vacations never taken, girls flocking, et ayant besoin de toi
For even through "celebrity," this corner-
    this coffeeshop, these banks, the restaurants and
    the ants-
Make my pen bleed for you