I placed iTunes on shuffle and slung the thick strap over my shoulders, the Telecaster wobbling on my knee. He spun the drumsticks, fresh from the package and not yet chipped to his liking, between calloused fingers and paused to readjust the practice pad between his legs. It's not the one he usually uses, still laying haphazardly in the back seat of the Jag, but it does the trick. One pad to tap a rhythm, one hand to strum a chord. Perfect.
Skip, skip, skip. I love my music, but not all of it is jam-able. We play along to a couple tracks, blathering on about the woes of bar chords and missing high E strings. We pause to simply listen to some tracks, punctuating our conversation with hard cider and too-dark beer (he tastes like coffee grounds when he kisses me). One song inspires us to look up another, to deviate from the ordered path shuffle tried to lead us down.
He disappears into one of three closets and returns with a grey, pilled suit jacket, nipped perfectly in the waist. He fakes a limp on his way back to me and takes the guitar from my hands (I've had House on the brain for about a month). It makes me smile. My own curmudgeon doctor. As drummer's fingers, with their rigid angles, strokes over thick strings, he smiles at me.
"You should go as androgynous!Wilson for Halloween."
I kiss him, those disgusting wheaty lips, and I think I'm in love.
I like this a lot. I think it's these type of moments Ann was talking about. The ones close to your heart.
ReplyDeleteThe simplicity in this is incredibly moving. The complexity between his lips tasting awful yet somehow triggering that much emotion in you is a beautiful thing... Moments like these, things you've done a million times over but, for some reason, one particular time just resonates in your memory... it's those moments that are worth writing about.
ReplyDeleteCoffee grounds and wheatey lips you have a lot of description that really creates and image here.
ReplyDeleteThere are things that I don't understand here (a Telecaster) on your hip but there's enough that I get the basic mood and the jammin' effect, and what moves me is the blend of technology and love. The way you create this very real attraction by letting the "technology" have a real tangible action ("strung the thick strap over my shoulder"). These are your best moments. What would happen if you kept going with this? Where might we go?
ReplyDeleteYou're so good at turning simple moments into beautiful little vignettes. I really love all the tiny little details that make this piece, like "disgusting wheaty lips," which you turn into a term of affection.
ReplyDelete