My nephew’s less than 2 years old logic dictates that I have the keys to every
door in the world. La poyte! Unable to pronounce the r of porte, whenever he
sees a locked door he digs into my front pocket to find the appropriate key. I
single-handedly broke the father figure that my brother was to him opening
doors his father could not. Tonton taryyk the locksmith from hell: the prime
time illusionist: the zany juggler with spinning plates: the bearded lady: the
animal dresser: the animal hair-dresser: the heard reser man as the sign on
that shop in Syria said: the trapeze jumping without a safety net: net weight
negligible: This side up: Fragile.
Stuck between a cent and a rabbit, it’s the deal or no deal contestant playing
the wildest bet of his life, stakes are high, drums roll, and he hates animals,
and rabbits multiply fast, and what’s a cent going to do to him anyway, he’s
even due to split it in half with one of the callers, so half-a-cent or rabbit it
will be. He ends up keeping the box numbered 22, it was his lucky number as
he was born on the 22nd of March: March ahead: ahead of the crowd: crowd
the cage with carrots: Carrots sliced and canned: Net weight negligible: This
side up: Fragile.
Frogs – what sound do frogs do? – assuming they quack, they were quacking
as I walked, by reflex I started saying “bidiilik abl ma tidiili”, that childhood
lesson I learned from a cousin whereby we would cast a spell on the frog
before it would on us. Frogs quacked as I walked: Weed scattered along the
road: Moon rose: Rose blossomed: Blossomed trees: Trees wept: Weeping
willows washing their hair pulled by gravity: Gravity of the situation when
there’s no gravity: Net weight negligible: This side up: Fragile.
Nominees in the Star Academy talent show, three of them stand, one saved
by the public vote, one by the contestants, and a third to the guillotine, off
with the head. Sally is the underdog, not that she’s a dog or a bitch, but it’s a
figure of speech, she gets saved by the bell, she ruins her mascara, right there,
live on television, that same place where politicians meet: Politicians meat:
Canned meat: Canned heat: Net weight negligible: This side up: Fragile.