chain of coincidence

mm
By: Rex Butters

yoga poetry chain of coincidence

she back bedroom  land line dials information try to find local tai chi classes one 5 blocks away looks good I living room hang with Bogart, Lorre, Cook, and Greenstreet walk bright sad San Francisco streets once more enter the Falcon Maze sharp hard door knock startle I see a dark uniform brown eyes shaded legs apart hand rests on holstered gun butt door opens to no nonsense lady cop hands on belt another officer behind to her right up two stairs their positions imply preparedness standing here old, tired, bald, and near sighted I’m perceived as a threat “hi” I say “can I help you?” “we got a 911 call from this address the caller hung up in cases like this  we need to come in and take a look around.” “you know what?” I say “you probably want the place across the street I heard you guys were over there last week you get a lot of business from them” the trio tenses “sir” she says unimpressed, “we need to come in and take a look around.” 21st century America she stands on the worn door mat but it might as well be the Constitution “there’s no one here but me and my wife and I’m just watching a movie” I say pointing to the paused image of bullying police outside black and white Bogart’s apartment him blocking the doorway and then I instantly regret it “what’s going on?” Monica asks walking out the bedroom I explain it “see?” I tell the even less impressed public servant “it’s just us and we didn’t call.” she demands entry a third time “sure” I say “c’mon in” gun guy stands in the door way she coldly watches us third officer sweeps the scene “all clear” he says “OH, you know what?” Monica asks “I was trying to get information on the phone and I think I dialled 911 instead of 411 I get them confused when I realized my mistake I hung up I didn’t want to bother you guys” l o n g p a u s e broken by the stern lady officer “what were you looking up?” she asks “local tai chi studios” she replies I wanted more information about the program at InFocus” the 3rd cop asks “yeah, you know them?” “oh yeah, I’ve know him for years we’ve trained together he’s great actually we’re old friends the real deal, you should definitely study with him” “perfect” she says “thanks for the information” “sure, looks like you dialled the right number after all”

 

gun guy and the iron lady

now

glare hard

at their partner

jaws clenched “I didn’t know  you studied tai chi” gun guy said “oh yeah” he said “in this job you need something to help you relax” to me today his job doesn’t seem that stressful the lady cop may have rolled her shaded eyes “ok, in the future if you dial 911 by mistake just stay on the line” walking out she still scowl/frown/glares  at cop 3 “she doesn’t remember it” Monica says  walking back to the bedroom to the phone “but I massaged her once- lotta neck and shoulder tension” she nods remembering

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