The recreation room is off the hallway to the dining room, and there is always someone standing around waiting, looking at their wrists and praying the piano to play. It answers through broken teeth painted green and yellow with a sponge. A dilapidated table for jigsaw puzzles and a few grade school desks for Bingo. I'm afraid to wear my hair to the park, though, Reggie says to Ada. She is always second in line--after her baby sister. Ada always puts Ariel first, as she did her father, as she would have done her mother. A silent argument precedes everything Reggie says. His manners are five years old. He is bald. A soft smile breaks beneath a flocculant Paul Cezanne of uneven length. Reggie shaves a different portion every day--an esoteric calendar. He doesn't know why, but every morning he looks in the mirror, picks up the razor, and whacks somewhere out of habit. Then he tries to find the right wig for painting in the closet. His peculiar genius is crosses.

Reggie paints in the dark because he doesn't know how to change a light bulb. A pair of panty hose is tied to the doorknob. The door swings open and Reggie pushes it back with his foot. The hose stretches tight and pulls the door open again. Saves a lot of steps. He's thinking about selling the idea to the airport. My psychic nears. She tells me I was an ex-patriot painter living in Paris. It has something to do with chickens. I reach out a hand. From the corner a third hand is rising. Another pair of beautiful eyes to match the first. My hand drops, but the first blue eyes retrieve it and the three of us stand holding hands, wondering who I am. Modigliani was from Livorno, and Livorno means Leghorn. He was an ex-patriot artist like myself. If Leghorns are chickens, I am Modigliani reborn with a twist. My headache considers James Joyce its brother. She is asking if I've been unfaithful. I met another man on the lot, she says. I hope he drives; you're far too pretty to crawl. In the bathtub Dudley's feet form Marilyn Monroe with a spigot between her breasts.



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