Neighbourly Formicarium
 "Lines, nothing but lines, for the convenience of human structures."
Pierre Reverdy


The poor man at the corner house is out walking the shadow of his dog again. The rest of us huddle in embarrassment. Did he ever have a dog, a real dog, the new woman asks, the divorcee with the, you know, big palaver.

Yesterday I thought we had put this behind us after putting it to a vote. Mr. Glockomorra says his teeth started to hurt before picking up the signals, the ones we count on. Again everyone wants me to be the spokesman. I pick up a rolled up newspaper and the new divorcee kisses me with a right cross. It's a tough town, here where the sun sets before noon. I'm thinking of resigning and asking the new neighbor out for the count. I'm thinking of getting my own shadow dog.

Corey Mesler

If you've any comments on this piece, Corey Mesler would be pleased to hear from you.