General-Zod wrote:
> Will Dockery wrote:
>
>>>> Passage Through Ennui

>>>> 35 years ago
>>>> it was another
>>>> long bitter Summer
>>>> that dark humid July 1985.

>>>> I was working
>>>> the graveyard shift
>>>> operating one of the service elevators
>>>> at Shadowville Spinning Mill.

>>>> Galatea and I
>>>> had split up again
>>>> earlier in the year
>>>> after our explosive reunion
>>>> in 1983.

>>>> It ended quickly
>>>> after a huge fight
>>>> with her brother
>>>> over an old score
>>>> usually forgotten.

>>>> I won the fight
>>>> but actually lost.
>>>> Tracy gave up
>>>> and Galatea left with him.

>>>> The year
>>>> it all came apart
>>>> seemingly permanent.
>>>> Two years of good times
>>>> ended in a moonshine rage. .

>>>> All I could see was
>>>> a shut down gloom.
>>>> The only laughter I heard
>>>> was down in the break room.

>>>> The brown haze of factory air
>>>> angry faced people
>>>> and the music
>>>> of metal machines.

>>>> Working all night
>>>> sleeping all day.
>>>> Sipping coffee
>>>> to chase the road aspirins.

>>>> Sitting on the steps
>>>> over by a giant fan.
>>>> keeping up with my workers
>>>> usually five ladies
>>>> at the machines.

>>>> If one of the ladies
>>>> needed anything
>>>> they'd just look my way
>>>> and wave.

>>>> Several times a night
>>>> I'd make a buy and fly
>>>> bringing back coffee for them
>>>> on makeshift cardboard trays.

>>>> Jotting down notes
>>>> doodling narratives
>>>> creating reality
>>>> building Shadowville
>>>> from the ground up.

>>>> Riding my elevator
>>>> up and down
>>>> creating samizdat
>>>> in the smoking booth.

>>>> Down to the Reel room
>>>> my elevator filled
>>>> with empty racks
>>>> to bring up the full ones
>>>> for the ladies upstairs.

>>>> All night
>>>> keeping it rolling
>>>> making it smooth
>>>> for the ladies
>>>> to make production.

>>>> Finally to clock out
>>>> as the sad whistle would blow
>>>> we would stumble out the gate
>>>> into the grey dawn.

>>>> Some headed for breakfast
>>>> and a beer
>>>> while always I headed home
>>>> for sleep
>>>> as quickly as possible.

>>>> Living at Mockingbird Court
>>>> where I had shared a trailer
>>>> with my friend Bob Whitman
>>>> an Army vet turned factory worker.

>>>> Bob worked downstairs
>>>> at the Autoclave
>>>> the machine that steamed chemicals
>>>> into the yarn.

>>>> Bob's sidekick Jim Berg
>>>> ran the huge Dryers
>>>> a super hot
>>>> chemical steam bath area.

>>>> Jim married
>>>> my childhood friend Pamela
>>>> and passed away too soon
>>>> from a heart attack

>>>> I'm not sure how workers
>>>> down there
>>>> survived the heat
>>>> and harsh smell.

>>>> Actually
>>>> I noticed not so well
>>>> as years went by
>>>> several old friends
>>>> still haunt me.

>>>> There was a guy named Bill
>>>> from Chicago
>>>> found in the Dryer room
>>>> coughing up blood from TB.

>>>> Chip, another Autoclave man
>>>> was found
>>>> giggling in the warehouse
>>>> up in the bales of fiber
>>>> one line of meth too many.

>>>> Little Rosell
>>>> on the Reels downstairs
>>>> hot little femme fatale
>>>> who I would know better later.

>>>> An unteresting lady
>>>> in her Daisy Duke shorts
>>>> and "Flashdance" shirt
>>>> she was the supervisors' choice.

>>>> Pipe smoking old Mr. Green
>>>> found in a hallway
>>>> died there of old age.

>>>> The list goes on
>>>> many who did not survive
>>>> until the shut down day
>>>> another poem for another day.

>>>> At that time of the night
>>>> with machines all running right
>>>> many of us could wander
>>>> have some coffee
>>>> and get some fresh air.

>>>> Bob was a good friend
>>>> at the job
>>>> quick with a joke
>>>> or pass his pipe for a toke.

>>>> Many smokers and drinkers
>>>> would hang out
>>>> on the porch
>>>> outside the Autoclave room.

>>>> When he heard
>>>> of my latest domestic disaster
>>>> Bob offered
>>>> to rent me a room.

>>>> In a rented room
>>>> in Bob's trailer
>>>> like a scene from The Odd Couple
>>>> without the laughs.

>>>> The bottom fell out
>>>> we didn't get along
>>>> outside of the job
>>>> so I moved out
>>>> to North Highland.

>>>> I moved in
>>>> next door to the Holt family
>>>> old school mill folk
>>>> in the former mill village.

>>>> Don, Walter and Karen Holden
>>>> all worked at
>>>> Shadowville Spinning Mill
>>>> like their family before them.

>>>> Karen worked in the supply room
>>>> Walter ran the Autoclave in Plant One
>>>> Don covered my job
>>>> during the say shift.

>>>> For some reason
>>>> it was important to them
>>>> that they tell Mr. Newberry
>>>> that I was their cousin.

>>>> I never did figure that out
>>>> but it was cool with me.
>>>> I liked them all
>>>> they were down to Earth folks.

>>>> The day I moved in
>>>> I had my music playing loud
>>>> outside my window
>>>> was the river
>>>> and then Alabama.

>>>> I would never have imagined
>>>> how that area would look now
>>>> with the row of houses demolished
>>>> and with the Riverwalk below.

>>>> I was two floors up
>>>> but I still felt
>>>> like a mole
>>>> like a subterranean.

>>>> Wake up
>>>> it was Monday
>>>> I could hear Billy Teakson
>>>> blowing his horn in his pickup truck
>>>> down below.

>>>> Billy was an old school
>>>> Card and Blending room man
>>>> never late
>>>> sick or well he was on the job.

>>>> Slither down the stairs
>>>> so far so good
>>>> jump in and ride on
>>>> the the alternate universe
>>>> the factory.

>>>> He never failed
>>>> to have a spare Budweiser
>>>> and a smoke
>>>> for the short ride to
>>>> Shadowville Spinning Mill.

>>>> We'd get there in time
>>>> to stand around the parking lot
>>>> and catch a few words
>>>> with the crew.

>>>> Then the whistle would blow
>>>> and it was on your mark
>>>> sail through 12 hours of dream
>>>> in another land.

>>>> Grabbed a cup of rotgut
>>>> mill coffee
>>>> and then
>>>> in a determined stroll.

>>>> Up to the Bobbin Winders
>>>> and the upstairs Reels
>>>> to catch everything up quick
>>>> get the game going right.

>>>> Then down the elevator
>>>> to the Spinning room
>>>> sweat shop
>>>> a dozen ladies
>>>> smoking and yelling conversations.

General-Zod wrote:

> Will Dockery wrote:
>>
>> Passage Through Ennui

>> 35 years ago
>> it was another
>> long bitter Summer
>> that dark humid July 1985.

>> I was working
>> the graveyard shift
>> operating one of the service elevators
>> at Shadowville Spinning Mill.

>> Galatea and I
>> had split up again
>> earlier in the year
>> after our explosive reunion
>> in 1983.

>> It ended quickly
>> after a huge fight
>> with her brother
>> over an old score
>> usually forgotten.

>> I won the fight
>> but actually lost.
>> Tracy gave up
>> and Galatea left with him.

>> The year
>> it all came apart
>> seemingly permanent.
>> Two years of good times
>> ended in a moonshine rage. .

>> All I could see was
>> a shut down gloom.
>> The only laughter I heard
>> was down in the break room.

>> The brown haze of factory air
>> angry faced people
>> and the music
>> of metal machines.

>> Working all night
>> sleeping all day.
>> Sipping coffee
>> to chase the road aspirins.

>> Sitting on the steps
>> over by a giant fan.
>> keeping up with my workers
>> usually five ladies
>> at the machines.

>> If one of the ladies
>> needed anything
>> they'd just look my way
>> and wave.

>> Several times a night
>> I'd make a buy and fly
>> bringing back coffee for them
>> on makeshift cardboard trays.

>> Jotting down notes
>> doodling narratives
>> creating reality
>> building Shadowville
>> from the ground up.

>> Riding my elevator
>> up and down
>> creating samizdat
>> in the smoking booth.

>> Down to the Reel room
>> my elevator filled
>> with empty racks
>> to bring up the full ones
>> for the ladies upstairs.

>> All night
>> keeping it rolling
>> making it smooth
>> for the ladies
>> to make production.

>> Finally to clock out
>> as the sad whistle would blow
>> we would stumble out the gate
>> into the grey dawn.

>> Some headed for breakfast
>> and a beer
>> while always I headed home
>> for sleep
>> as quickly as possible.

>> Living at Mockingbird Court
>> where I had shared a trailer
>> with my friend Bob Whitman
>> an Army vet turned factory worker.

>> Bob worked downstairs
>> at the Autoclave
>> the machine that steamed chemicals
>> into the yarn.

>> Bob's sidekick Jim Berg
>> ran the huge Dryers
>> a super hot
>> chemical steam bath area.

>> Jim married
>> my childhood friend Pamela
>> and passed away too soon
>> from a heart attack

>> I'm not sure how workers
>> down there
>> survived the heat
>> and harsh smell.

>> Actually
>> I noticed not so well
>> as years went by
>> several old friends
>> still haunt me.

>> There was a guy named Bill
>> from Chicago
>> found in the Dryer room
>> coughing up blood from TB.

>> Chip, another Autoclave man
>> was found
>> giggling in the warehouse
>> up in the bales of fiber
>> one line of meth too many.

>> Little Rosell
>> on the Reels downstairs
>> hot little femme fatale
>> who I would know better later.

>> An unteresting lady
>> in her Daisy Duke shorts
>> and "Flashdance" shirt
>> she was the supervisors' choice.

>> Pipe smoking old Mr. Green
>> found in a hallway
>> died there of old age.

>> The list goes on
>> many who did not survive
>> until the shut down day
>> another poem for another day.

>> At that time of the night
>> with machines all running right
>> many of us could wander
>> have some coffee
>> and get some fresh air.

>> Bob was a good friend
>> at the job
>> quick with a joke
>> or pass his pipe for a toke.

>> Many smokers and drinkers
>> would hang out
>> on the porch
>> outside the Autoclave room.

>> When he heard
>> of my latest domestic disaster
>> Bob offered
>> to rent me a room.

>> In a rented room
>> in Bob's trailer
>> like a scene from The Odd Couple
>> without the laughs.

>> The bottom fell out
>> we didn't get along
>> outside of the job
>> so I moved out
>> to North Highland.

>> I moved in
>> next door to the Holt family
>> old school mill folk
>> in the former mill village.

>> Don, Walter and Karen Holden
>> all worked at
>> Shadowville Spinning Mill
>> like their family before them.

>> Karen worked in the supply room
>> Walter ran the Autoclave in Plant One
>> Don covered my job
>> during the say shift.

>> For some reason
>> it was important to them
>> that they tell Mr. Newberry
>> that I was their cousin.

>> I never did figure that out
>> but it was cool with me.
>> I liked them all
>> they were down to Earth folks.

>> The day I moved in
>> I had my music playing loud
>> outside my window
>> was the river
>> and then Alabama.

>> I would never have imagined
>> how that area would look now
>> with the row of houses demolished
>> and with the Riverwalk below.

>> I was two floors up
>> but I still felt
>> like a mole
>> like a subterranean.

>> Wake up
>> it was Monday
>> I could hear Billy Teakson
>> blowing his horn in his pickup truck
>> down below.

>> Billy was an old school
>> Card and Blending room man
>> never late
>> sick or well he was on the job.

>> Slither down the stairs
>> so far so good
>> jump in and ride on
>> the the alternate universe
>> the factory.

>> He never failed
>> to have a spare Budweiser
>> and a smoke
>> for the short ride to
>> Shadowville Spinning Mill.

>> We'd get there in time
>> to stand around the parking lot
>> and catch a few words
>> with the crew.

>> Then the whistle would blow
>> and it was on your mark
>> sail through 12 hours of dream
>> in another land.

>> Grabbed a cup of rotgut
>> mill coffee
>> and then
>> in a determined stroll.

>> Up to the Bobbin Winders
>> and the upstairs Reels
>> to catch everything up quick
>> get the game going right.

>> Then down the elevator
>> to the Spinning room
>> sweat shop
>> a dozen ladies
>> smoking and yelling conversations.

>> Loud roaring
>> antique seeming machinery
>> all all points
>> no escape from
>> the chaos and thunder.

>> Get it all caught up
>> then down to the sub basement
>> to pick up the prize left for me
>> by Don
>> my first shift doppelganger.

>> Any time Don
>> skipped out early
>> and left everything
>> off the mark, it was no problem.

>> He'd leave me a joint
>> at a certain spot
>> in the sub basement.

>> The basement was
>> creepy enough
>> but the sub basement
>> seemed right out
>> of a horror movie.

>> Needless to say
>> I'd keep my head down
>> and would try to get out
>> of the sub basement quickly.

>> I had been distributing
>> my broadsheets
>> among my co-worker friends
>> news of the day
>> with a twist.

>> They were entertained
>> by my poetry
>> and comic strips
>> looking for themselves
>> in the lines on paper.

>> Pat, the personnel director
>> called me in her office
>> and put the kibosh
>> on my broadsheet.

>> My poetry and art zine
>> had violated the strict
>> "No Distribution" policy
>> that no outside reading
>> was permitted inside the mill gates.

>> Since I had not been
>> aware of this policy
>> I apologized
>> and kept the broadsides
>> outside the gates from then on.

General-Zod wrote:

> Will Dockery wrote:
>>
>> Passage Through Ennui

>> 35 years ago
>> it was another
>> long bitter Summer
>> that dark humid July 1985.

>> I was working
>> the graveyard shift
>> operating one of the service elevators
>> at Shadowville Spinning Mill.

>> Galatea and I
>> had split up again
>> earlier in the year
>> after our explosive reunion
>> in 1983.

>> It ended quickly
>> after a huge fight
>> with her brother
>> over an old score
>> usually forgotten.

>> I won the fight
>> but actually lost.
>> Tracy gave up
>> and Galatea left with him.

>> The year
>> it all came apart
>> seemingly permanent.
>> Two years of good times
>> ended in a moonshine rage. .

>> All I could see was
>> a shut down gloom.
>> The only laughter I heard
>> was down in the break room.

>> The brown haze of factory air
>> angry faced people
>> and the music
>> of metal machines.

>> Working all night
>> sleeping all day.
>> Sipping coffee
>> to chase the road aspirins.

>> Sitting on the steps
>> over by a giant fan.
>> keeping up with my workers
>> usually five ladies
>> at the machines.

>> If one of the ladies
>> needed anything
>> they'd just look my way
>> and wave.

>> Several times a night
>> I'd make a buy and fly
>> bringing back coffee for them
>> on makeshift cardboard trays.

>> Jotting down notes
>> doodling narratives
>> creating reality
>> building Shadowville
>> from the ground up.

>> Riding my elevator
>> up and down
>> creating samizdat
>> in the smoking booth.

>> Down to the Reel room
>> my elevator filled
>> with empty racks
>> to bring up the full ones
>> for the ladies upstairs.

>> All night
>> keeping it rolling
>> making it smooth
>> for the ladies
>> to make production.

>> Finally to clock out
>> as the sad whistle would blow
>> we would stumble out the gate
>> into the grey dawn.

>> Some headed for breakfast
>> and a beer
>> while always I headed home
>> for sleep
>> as quickly as possible.

>> Living at Mockingbird Court
>> where I had shared a trailer
>> with my friend Bob Whitman
>> an Army vet turned factory worker.

>> Bob worked downstairs
>> at the Autoclave
>> the machine that steamed chemicals
>> into the yarn.

>> Bob's sidekick Jim Berg
>> ran the huge Dryers
>> a super hot
>> chemical steam bath area.

>> Jim married
>> my childhood friend Pamela
>> and passed away too soon
>> from a heart attack

>> I'm not sure how workers
>> down there
>> survived the heat
>> and harsh smell.

>> Actually
>> I noticed not so well
>> as years went by
>> several old friends
>> still haunt me.

>> There was a guy named Bill
>> from Chicago
>> found in the Dryer room
>> coughing up blood from TB.

>> Chip, another Autoclave man
>> was found
>> giggling in the warehouse
>> up in the bales of fiber
>> one line of meth too many.

>> Little Rosell
>> on the Reels downstairs
>> hot little femme fatale
>> who I would know better later.

>> An unteresting lady
>> in her Daisy Duke shorts
>> and "Flashdance" shirt
>> she was the supervisors' choice.

>> Pipe smoking old Mr. Green
>> found in a hallway
>> died there of old age.

>> The list goes on
>> many who did not survive
>> until the shut down day
>> another poem for another day.

>> At that time of the night
>> with machines all running right
>> many of us could wander
>> have some coffee
>> and get some fresh air.

>> Bob was a good friend
>> at the job
>> quick with a joke
>> or pass his pipe for a toke.

>> Many smokers and drinkers
>> would hang out
>> on the porch
>> outside the Autoclave room.

>> When he heard
>> of my latest domestic disaster
>> Bob offered
>> to rent me a room.

>> In a rented room
>> in Bob's trailer
>> like a scene from The Odd Couple
>> without the laughs.

>> The bottom fell out
>> we didn't get along
>> outside of the job
>> so I moved out
>> to North Highland.

>> I moved in
>> next door to the Holt family
>> old school mill folk
>> in the former mill village.

>> Don, Walter and Karen Holden
>> all worked at
>> Shadowville Spinning Mill
>> like their family before them.

>> Karen worked in the supply room
>> Walter ran the Autoclave in Plant One
>> Don covered my job
>> during the say shift.

>> For some reason
>> it was important to them
>> that they tell Mr. Newberry
>> that I was their cousin.

>> I never did figure that out
>> but it was cool with me.
>> I liked them all
>> they were down to Earth folks.

>> The day I moved in
>> I had my music playing loud
>> outside my window
>> was the river
>> and then Alabama.

>> I would never have imagined
>> how that area would look now
>> with the row of houses demolished
>> and with the Riverwalk below.

>> I was two floors up
>> but I still felt
>> like a mole
>> like a subterranean.

>> Wake up
>> it was Monday
>> I could hear Billy Teakson
>> blowing his horn in his pickup truck
>> down below.

>> Billy was an old school
>> Card and Blending room man
>> never late
>> sick or well he was on the job.

>> Slither down the stairs
>> so far so good
>> jump in and ride on
>> the the alternate universe
>> the factory.

>> He never failed
>> to have a spare Budweiser
>> and a smoke
>> for the short ride to
>> Shadowville Spinning Mill.

>> We'd get there in time
>> to stand around the parking lot
>> and catch a few words
>> with the crew.

>> Then the whistle would blow
>> and it was on your mark
>> sail through 12 hours of dream
>> in another land.

>> Grabbed a cup of rotgut
>> mill coffee
>> and then
>> in a determined stroll.

>> Up to the Bobbin Winders
>> and the upstairs Reels
>> to catch everything up quick
>> get the game going right.

>> Then down the elevator
>> to the Spinning room
>> sweat shop
>> a dozen ladies
>> smoking and yelling conversations.

>> Loud roaring
>> antique seeming machinery
>> all all points
>> no escape from
>> the chaos and thunder.

>> Get it all caught up
>> then down to the sub basement
>> to pick up the prize left for me
>> by Don
>> my first shift doppelganger.

>> Any time Don
>> skipped out early
>> and left everything
>> off the mark, it was no problem.

>> He'd leave me a joint
>> at a certain spot
>> in the sub basement.

>> The basement was
>> creepy enough
>> but the sub basement
>> seemed right out
>> of a horror movie.

>> Needless to say
>> I'd keep my head down
>> and would try to get out
>> of the sub basement quickly.

>> I had been distributing
>> my broadsheets
>> among my co-worker friends
>> news of the day
>> with a twist.

>> They were entertained
>> by my poetry
>> and comic strips
>> looking for themselves
>> in the lines on paper.

>> Pat, the personnel director
>> called me in her office
>> and put the kibosh
>> on my broadsheet.

>> My poetry and art zine
>> had violated the strict
>> "No Distribution" policy
>> that no outside reading
>> was permitted inside the mill gates.

>> Since I had not been
>> aware of this policy
>> I apologized
>> and kept the broadsides
>> outside the gates from then on.

Will Dockery wrote:

> General-Zod wrote:
>> Will Dockery wrote:
>
>>>>> Passage Through Ennui

>>>>> 35 years ago
>>>>> it was another
>>>>> long bitter Summer
>>>>> that dark humid July 1985.

>>>>> I was working
>>>>> the graveyard shift
>>>>> operating one of the service elevators
>>>>> at Shadowville Spinning Mill.

>>>>> Galatea and I
>>>>> had split up again
>>>>> earlier in the year
>>>>> after our explosive reunion
>>>>> in 1983.

>>>>> It ended quickly
>>>>> after a huge fight
>>>>> with her brother
>>>>> over an old score
>>>>> usually forgotten.

>>>>> I won the fight
>>>>> but actually lost.
>>>>> Tracy gave up
>>>>> and Galatea left with him.

>>>>> The year
>>>>> it all came apart
>>>>> seemingly permanent.
>>>>> Two years of good times
>>>>> ended in a moonshine rage. .

>>>>> All I could see was
>>>>> a shut down gloom.
>>>>> The only laughter I heard
>>>>> was down in the break room.

>>>>> The brown haze of factory air
>>>>> angry faced people
>>>>> and the music
>>>>> of metal machines.

>>>>> Working all night
>>>>> sleeping all day.
>>>>> Sipping coffee
>>>>> to chase the road aspirins.

>>>>> Sitting on the steps
>>>>> over by a giant fan.
>>>>> keeping up with my workers
>>>>> usually five ladies
>>>>> at the machines.

>>>>> If one of the ladies
>>>>> needed anything
>>>>> they'd just look my way
>>>>> and wave.

>>>>> Several times a night
>>>>> I'd make a buy and fly
>>>>> bringing back coffee for them
>>>>> on makeshift cardboard trays.

>>>>> Jotting down notes
>>>>> doodling narratives
>>>>> creating reality
>>>>> building Shadowville
>>>>> from the ground up.

>>>>> Riding my elevator
>>>>> up and down
>>>>> creating samizdat
>>>>> in the smoking booth.

>>>>> Down to the Reel room
>>>>> my elevator filled
>>>>> with empty racks
>>>>> to bring up the full ones
>>>>> for the ladies upstairs.

>>>>> All night
>>>>> keeping it rolling
>>>>> making it smooth
>>>>> for the ladies
>>>>> to make production.

>>>>> Finally to clock out
>>>>> as the sad whistle would blow
>>>>> we would stumble out the gate
>>>>> into the grey dawn.

>>>>> Some headed for breakfast
>>>>> and a beer
>>>>> while always I headed home
>>>>> for sleep
>>>>> as quickly as possible.

>>>>> Living at Mockingbird Court
>>>>> where I had shared a trailer
>>>>> with my friend Bob Whitman
>>>>> an Army vet turned factory worker.

>>>>> Bob worked downstairs
>>>>> at the Autoclave
>>>>> the machine that steamed chemicals
>>>>> into the yarn.

>>>>> Bob's sidekick Jim Berg
>>>>> ran the huge Dryers
>>>>> a super hot
>>>>> chemical steam bath area.

>>>>> Jim married
>>>>> my childhood friend Pamela
>>>>> and passed away too soon
>>>>> from a heart attack

>>>>> I'm not sure how workers
>>>>> down there
>>>>> survived the heat
>>>>> and harsh smell.

>>>>> Actually
>>>>> I noticed not so well
>>>>> as years went by
>>>>> several old friends
>>>>> still haunt me.

>>>>> There was a guy named Bill
>>>>> from Chicago
>>>>> found in the Dryer room
>>>>> coughing up blood from TB.

>>>>> Chip, another Autoclave man
>>>>> was found
>>>>> giggling in the warehouse
>>>>> up in the bales of fiber
>>>>> one line of meth too many.

>>>>> Little Rosell
>>>>> on the Reels downstairs
>>>>> hot little femme fatale
>>>>> who I would know better later.

>>>>> An unteresting lady
>>>>> in her Daisy Duke shorts
>>>>> and "Flashdance" shirt
>>>>> she was the supervisors' choice.

>>>>> Pipe smoking old Mr. Green
>>>>> found in a hallway
>>>>> died there of old age.

>>>>> The list goes on
>>>>> many who did not survive
>>>>> until the shut down day
>>>>> another poem for another day.

>>>>> At that time of the night
>>>>> with machines all running right
>>>>> many of us could wander
>>>>> have some coffee
>>>>> and get some fresh air.

>>>>> Bob was a good friend
>>>>> at the job
>>>>> quick with a joke
>>>>> or pass his pipe for a toke.

>>>>> Many smokers and drinkers
>>>>> would hang out
>>>>> on the porch
>>>>> outside the Autoclave room.

>>>>> When he heard
>>>>> of my latest domestic disaster
>>>>> Bob offered
>>>>> to rent me a room.

>>>>> In a rented room
>>>>> in Bob's trailer
>>>>> like a scene from The Odd Couple
>>>>> without the laughs.

>>>>> The bottom fell out
>>>>> we didn't get along
>>>>> outside of the job
>>>>> so I moved out
>>>>> to North Highland.

>>>>> I moved in
>>>>> next door to the Holt family
>>>>> old school mill folk
>>>>> in the former mill village.

>>>>> Don, Walter and Karen Holden
>>>>> all worked at
>>>>> Shadowville Spinning Mill
>>>>> like their family before them.

>>>>> Karen worked in the supply room
>>>>> Walter ran the Autoclave in Plant One
>>>>> Don covered my job
>>>>> during the say shift.

>>>>> For some reason
>>>>> it was important to them
>>>>> that they tell Mr. Newberry
>>>>> that I was their cousin.

>>>>> I never did figure that out
>>>>> but it was cool with me.
>>>>> I liked them all
>>>>> they were down to Earth folks.

>>>>> The day I moved in
>>>>> I had my music playing loud
>>>>> outside my window
>>>>> was the river
>>>>> and then Alabama.

>>>>> I would never have imagined
>>>>> how that area would look now
>>>>> with the row of houses demolished
>>>>> and with the Riverwalk below.

>>>>> I was two floors up
>>>>> but I still felt
>>>>> like a mole
>>>>> like a subterranean.

>>>>> Wake up
>>>>> it was Monday
>>>>> I could hear Billy Teakson
>>>>> blowing his horn in his pickup truck
>>>>> down below.

>>>>> Billy was an old school
>>>>> Card and Blending room man
>>>>> never late
>>>>> sick or well he was on the job.

>>>>> Slither down the stairs
>>>>> so far so good
>>>>> jump in and ride on
>>>>> the the alternate universe
>>>>> the factory.

>>>>> He never failed
>>>>> to have a spare Budweiser
>>>>> and a smoke
>>>>> for the short ride to
>>>>> Shadowville Spinning Mill.

General-Zod wrote:

> Will Dockery wrote:

>> General-Zod wrote:
>>> Will Dockery wrote:
>>
>>>>>> Passage Through Ennui

>>>>>> 35 years ago
>>>>>> it was another
>>>>>> long bitter Summer
>>>>>> that dark humid July 1985.

>>>>>> I was working
>>>>>> the graveyard shift
>>>>>> operating one of the service elevators
>>>>>> at Shadowville Spinning Mill.

>>>>>> Galatea and I
>>>>>> had split up again
>>>>>> earlier in the year
>>>>>> after our explosive reunion
>>>>>> in 1983.

>>>>>> It ended quickly
>>>>>> after a huge fight
>>>>>> with her brother
>>>>>> over an old score
>>>>>> usually forgotten.

>>>>>> I won the fight
>>>>>> but actually lost.
>>>>>> Tracy gave up
>>>>>> and Galatea left with him.

>>>>>> The year
>>>>>> it all came apart
>>>>>> seemingly permanent.
>>>>>> Two years of good times
>>>>>> ended in a moonshine rage. .

>>>>>> All I could see was
>>>>>> a shut down gloom.
>>>>>> The only laughter I heard
>>>>>> was down in the break room.

>>>>>> The brown haze of factory air
>>>>>> angry faced people
>>>>>> and the music
>>>>>> of metal machines.

>>>>>> Working all night
>>>>>> sleeping all day.
>>>>>> Sipping coffee
>>>>>> to chase the road aspirins.

>>>>>> Sitting on the steps
>>>>>> over by a giant fan.
>>>>>> keeping up with my workers
>>>>>> usually five ladies
>>>>>> at the machines.

>>>>>> If one of the ladies
>>>>>> needed anything
>>>>>> they'd just look my way
>>>>>> and wave.

>>>>>> Several times a night
>>>>>> I'd make a buy and fly
>>>>>> bringing back coffee for them
>>>>>> on makeshift cardboard trays.

>>>>>> Jotting down notes
>>>>>> doodling narratives
>>>>>> creating reality
>>>>>> building Shadowville
>>>>>> from the ground up.

>>>>>> Riding my elevator
>>>>>> up and down
>>>>>> creating samizdat
>>>>>> in the smoking booth.

>>>>>> Down to the Reel room
>>>>>> my elevator filled
>>>>>> with empty racks
>>>>>> to bring up the full ones
>>>>>> for the ladies upstairs.

>>>>>> All night
>>>>>> keeping it rolling
>>>>>> making it smooth
>>>>>> for the ladies
>>>>>> to make production.

>>>>>> Finally to clock out
>>>>>> as the sad whistle would blow
>>>>>> we would stumble out the gate
>>>>>> into the grey dawn.

>>>>>> Some headed for breakfast
>>>>>> and a beer
>>>>>> while always I headed home
>>>>>> for sleep
>>>>>> as quickly as possible.

>>>>>> Living at Mockingbird Court
>>>>>> where I had shared a trailer
>>>>>> with my friend Bob Whitman
>>>>>> an Army vet turned factory worker.

>>>>>> Bob worked downstairs
>>>>>> at the Autoclave
>>>>>> the machine that steamed chemicals
>>>>>> into the yarn.

>>>>>> Bob's sidekick Jim Berg
>>>>>> ran the huge Dryers
>>>>>> a super hot
>>>>>> chemical steam bath area.

>>>>>> Jim married
>>>>>> my childhood friend Pamela
>>>>>> and passed away too soon
>>>>>> from a heart attack

>>>>>> I'm not sure how workers
>>>>>> down there
>>>>>> survived the heat
>>>>>> and harsh smell.

>>>>>> Actually
>>>>>> I noticed not so well
>>>>>> as years went by
>>>>>> several old friends
>>>>>> still haunt me.

>>>>>> There was a guy named Bill
>>>>>> from Chicago
>>>>>> found in the Dryer room
>>>>>> coughing up blood from TB.

>>>>>> Chip, another Autoclave man
>>>>>> was found
>>>>>> giggling in the warehouse
>>>>>> up in the bales of fiber
>>>>>> one line of meth too many.

>>>>>> Little Rosell
>>>>>> on the Reels downstairs
>>>>>> hot little femme fatale
>>>>>> who I would know better later.

>>>>>> An unteresting lady
>>>>>> in her Daisy Duke shorts
>>>>>> and "Flashdance" shirt
>>>>>> she was the supervisors' choice.

>>>>>> Pipe smoking old Mr. Green
>>>>>> found in a hallway
>>>>>> died there of old age.

>>>>>> The list goes on
>>>>>> many who did not survive
>>>>>> until the shut down day
>>>>>> another poem for another day.

>>>>>> At that time of the night
>>>>>> with machines all running right
>>>>>> many of us could wander
>>>>>> have some coffee
>>>>>> and get some fresh air.

>>>>>> Bob was a good friend
>>>>>> at the job
>>>>>> quick with a joke
>>>>>> or pass his pipe for a toke.

>>>>>> Many smokers and drinkers
>>>>>> would hang out
>>>>>> on the porch
>>>>>> outside the Autoclave room.

>>>>>> When he heard
>>>>>> of my latest domestic disaster
>>>>>> Bob offered
>>>>>> to rent me a room.

>>>>>> In a rented room
>>>>>> in Bob's trailer
>>>>>> like a scene from The Odd Couple
>>>>>> without the laughs.

>>>>>> The bottom fell out
>>>>>> we didn't get along
>>>>>> outside of the job
>>>>>> so I moved out
>>>>>> to North Highland.

>>>>>> I moved in
>>>>>> next door to the Holt family
>>>>>> old school mill folk
>>>>>> in the former mill village.

>>>>>> Don, Walter and Karen Holden
>>>>>> all worked at
>>>>>> Shadowville Spinning Mill
>>>>>> like their family before them.

>>>>>> Karen worked in the supply room
>>>>>> Walter ran the Autoclave in Plant One
>>>>>> Don covered my job
>>>>>> during the say shift.

>>>>>> For some reason
>>>>>> it was important to them
>>>>>> that they tell Mr. Newberry
>>>>>> that I was their cousin.

>>>>>> I never did figure that out
>>>>>> but it was cool with me.
>>>>>> I liked them all
>>>>>> they were down to Earth folks.

>>>>>> The day I moved in
>>>>>> I had my music playing loud
>>>>>> outside my window
>>>>>> was the river
>>>>>> and then Alabama.

>>>>>> I would never have imagined
>>>>>> how that area would look now
>>>>>> with the row of houses demolished
>>>>>> and with the Riverwalk below.

>>>>>> I was two floors up
>>>>>> but I still felt
>>>>>> like a mole
>>>>>> like a subterranean.

>>>>>> Wake up
>>>>>> it was Monday
>>>>>> I could hear Billy Teakson
>>>>>> blowing his horn in his pickup truck
>>>>>> down below.

Will Dockery wrote:

> General-Zod wrote:
>> Will Dockery wrote:
>
>>>>>>> Passage Through Ennui

>>>>>>> 35 years ago
>>>>>>> it was another
>>>>>>> long bitter Summer
>>>>>>> that dark humid July 1985.

>>>>>>> I was working
>>>>>>> the graveyard shift
>>>>>>> operating one of the service elevators
>>>>>>> at Shadowville Spinning Mill.

>>>>>>> Galatea and I
>>>>>>> had split up again
>>>>>>> earlier in the year
>>>>>>> after our explosive reunion
>>>>>>> in 1983.

>>>>>>> It ended quickly
>>>>>>> after a huge fight
>>>>>>> with her brother
>>>>>>> over an old score
>>>>>>> usually forgotten.

>>>>>>> I won the fight
>>>>>>> but actually lost.
>>>>>>> Tracy gave up
>>>>>>> and Galatea left with him.

>>>>>>> The year
>>>>>>> it all came apart
>>>>>>> seemingly permanent.
>>>>>>> Two years of good times
>>>>>>> ended in a moonshine rage. .

>>>>>>> All I could see was
>>>>>>> a shut down gloom.
>>>>>>> The only laughter I heard
>>>>>>> was down in the break room.

>>>>>>> The brown haze of factory air
>>>>>>> angry faced people
>>>>>>> and the music
>>>>>>> of metal machines.

>>>>>>> Working all night
>>>>>>> sleeping all day.
>>>>>>> Sipping coffee
>>>>>>> to chase the road aspirins.

>>>>>>> Sitting on the steps
>>>>>>> over by a giant fan.
>>>>>>> keeping up with my workers
>>>>>>> usually five ladies
>>>>>>> at the machines.

>>>>>>> If one of the ladies
>>>>>>> needed anything
>>>>>>> they'd just look my way
>>>>>>> and wave.

>>>>>>> Several times a night
>>>>>>> I'd make a buy and fly
>>>>>>> bringing back coffee for them
>>>>>>> on makeshift cardboard trays.

>>>>>>> Jotting down notes
>>>>>>> doodling narratives
>>>>>>> creating reality
>>>>>>> building Shadowville
>>>>>>> from the ground up.

>>>>>>> Riding my elevator
>>>>>>> up and down
>>>>>>> creating samizdat
>>>>>>> in the smoking booth.

>>>>>>> Down to the Reel room
>>>>>>> my elevator filled
>>>>>>> with empty racks
>>>>>>> to bring up the full ones
>>>>>>> for the ladies upstairs.

>>>>>>> All night
>>>>>>> keeping it rolling
>>>>>>> making it smooth
>>>>>>> for the ladies
>>>>>>> to make production.

>>>>>>> Finally to clock out
>>>>>>> as the sad whistle would blow
>>>>>>> we would stumble out the gate
>>>>>>> into the grey dawn.

>>>>>>> Some headed for breakfast
>>>>>>> and a beer
>>>>>>> while always I headed home
>>>>>>> for sleep
>>>>>>> as quickly as possible.

>>>>>>> Living at Mockingbird Court
>>>>>>> where I had shared a trailer
>>>>>>> with my friend Bob Whitman
>>>>>>> an Army vet turned factory worker.

>>>>>>> Bob worked downstairs
>>>>>>> at the Autoclave
>>>>>>> the machine that steamed chemicals
>>>>>>> into the yarn.

>>>>>>> Bob's sidekick Jim Berg
>>>>>>> ran the huge Dryers
>>>>>>> a super hot
>>>>>>> chemical steam bath area.

>>>>>>> Jim married
>>>>>>> my childhood friend Pamela
>>>>>>> and passed away too soon
>>>>>>> from a heart attack

>>>>>>> I'm not sure how workers
>>>>>>> down there
>>>>>>> survived the heat
>>>>>>> and harsh smell.

>>>>>>> Actually
>>>>>>> I noticed not so well
>>>>>>> as years went by
>>>>>>> several old friends
>>>>>>> still haunt me.

>>>>>>> There was a guy named Bill
>>>>>>> from Chicago
>>>>>>> found in the Dryer room
>>>>>>> coughing up blood from TB.

>>>>>>> Chip, another Autoclave man
>>>>>>> was found
>>>>>>> giggling in the warehouse
>>>>>>> up in the bales of fiber
>>>>>>> one line of meth too many.

>>>>>>> Little Rosell
>>>>>>> on the Reels downstairs
>>>>>>> hot little femme fatale
>>>>>>> who I would know better later.

>>>>>>> An unteresting lady
>>>>>>> in her Daisy Duke shorts
>>>>>>> and "Flashdance" shirt
>>>>>>> she was the supervisors' choice.

>>>>>>> Pipe smoking old Mr. Green
>>>>>>> found in a hallway
>>>>>>> died there of old age.

>>>>>>> The list goes on
>>>>>>> many who did not survive
>>>>>>> until the shut down day
>>>>>>> another poem for another day.

>>>>>>> At that time of the night
>>>>>>> with machines all running right
>>>>>>> many of us could wander
>>>>>>> have some coffee
>>>>>>> and get some fresh air.

>>>>>>> Bob was a good friend
>>>>>>> at the job
>>>>>>> quick with a joke
>>>>>>> or pass his pipe for a toke.

>>>>>>> Many smokers and drinkers
>>>>>>> would hang out
>>>>>>> on the porch
>>>>>>> outside the Autoclave room.

>>>>>>> When he heard
>>>>>>> of my latest domestic disaster
>>>>>>> Bob offered
>>>>>>> to rent me a room.

>>>>>>> In a rented room
>>>>>>> in Bob's trailer
>>>>>>> like a scene from The Odd Couple
>>>>>>> without the laughs.

>>>>>>> The bottom fell out
>>>>>>> we didn't get along
>>>>>>> outside of the job
>>>>>>> so I moved out
>>>>>>> to North Highland.

>>>>>>> I moved in
>>>>>>> next door to the Holt family
>>>>>>> old school mill folk
>>>>>>> in the former mill village.

>>>>>>> Don, Walter and Karen Holden
>>>>>>> all worked at
>>>>>>> Shadowville Spinning Mill
>>>>>>> like their family before them.

>>>>>>> Karen worked in the supply room
>>>>>>> Walter ran the Autoclave in Plant One
>>>>>>> Don covered my job
>>>>>>> during the say shift.

>>>>>>> For some reason
>>>>>>> it was important to them
>>>>>>> that they tell Mr. Newberry
>>>>>>> that I was their cousin.

>>>>>>> I never did figure that out
>>>>>>> but it was cool with me.
>>>>>>> I liked them all
>>>>>>> they were down to Earth folks.

>>>>>>> The day I moved in
>>>>>>> I had my music playing loud
>>>>>>> outside my window
>>>>>>> was the river
>>>>>>> and then Alabama.

General-Zod wrote:

> Will Dockery wrote:

>> General-Zod wrote:
>>> Will Dockery wrote:
>>
>>>>>>>> Passage Through Ennui
>
>>>>>>>> 35 years ago
>>>>>>>> it was another
>>>>>>>> long bitter Summer
>>>>>>>> that dark humid July 1985.

>>>>>>>> I was working
>>>>>>>> the graveyard shift
>>>>>>>> operating one of the service elevators
>>>>>>>> at Shadowville Spinning Mill.

>>>>>>>> Galatea and I
>>>>>>>> had split up again
>>>>>>>> earlier in the year
>>>>>>>> after our explosive reunion
>>>>>>>> in 1983.

>>>>>>>> It ended quickly
>>>>>>>> after a huge fight
>>>>>>>> with her brother
>>>>>>>> over an old score
>>>>>>>> usually forgotten.

>>>>>>>> I won the fight
>>>>>>>> but actually lost.
>>>>>>>> Tracy gave up
>>>>>>>> and Galatea left with him.

>>>>>>>> The year
>>>>>>>> it all came apart
>>>>>>>> seemingly permanent.
>>>>>>>> Two years of good times
>>>>>>>> ended in a moonshine rage. .

>>>>>>>> All I could see was
>>>>>>>> a shut down gloom.
>>>>>>>> The only laughter I heard
>>>>>>>> was down in the break room.

>>>>>>>> The brown haze of factory air
>>>>>>>> angry faced people
>>>>>>>> and the music
>>>>>>>> of metal machines.

>>>>>>>> Working all night
>>>>>>>> sleeping all day.
>>>>>>>> Sipping coffee
>>>>>>>> to chase the road aspirins.

>>>>>>>> Sitting on the steps
>>>>>>>> over by a giant fan.
>>>>>>>> keeping up with my workers
>>>>>>>> usually five ladies
>>>>>>>> at the machines.

>>>>>>>> If one of the ladies
>>>>>>>> needed anything
>>>>>>>> they'd just look my way
>>>>>>>> and wave.

>>>>>>>> Several times a night
>>>>>>>> I'd make a buy and fly
>>>>>>>> bringing back coffee for them
>>>>>>>> on makeshift cardboard trays.

>>>>>>>> Jotting down notes
>>>>>>>> doodling narratives
>>>>>>>> creating reality
>>>>>>>> building Shadowville
>>>>>>>> from the ground up.

>>>>>>>> Riding my elevator
>>>>>>>> up and down
>>>>>>>> creating samizdat
>>>>>>>> in the smoking booth.

>>>>>>>> Down to the Reel room
>>>>>>>> my elevator filled
>>>>>>>> with empty racks
>>>>>>>> to bring up the full ones
>>>>>>>> for the ladies upstairs.

>>>>>>>> All night
>>>>>>>> keeping it rolling
>>>>>>>> making it smooth
>>>>>>>> for the ladies
>>>>>>>> to make production.

>>>>>>>> Finally to clock out
>>>>>>>> as the sad whistle would blow
>>>>>>>> we would stumble out the gate
>>>>>>>> into the grey dawn.

>>>>>>>> Some headed for breakfast
>>>>>>>> and a beer
>>>>>>>> while always I headed home
>>>>>>>> for sleep
>>>>>>>> as quickly as possible.

>>>>>>>> Living at Mockingbird Court
>>>>>>>> where I had shared a trailer
>>>>>>>> with my friend Bob Whitman
>>>>>>>> an Army vet turned factory worker.

>>>>>>>> Bob worked downstairs
>>>>>>>> at the Autoclave
>>>>>>>> the machine that steamed chemicals
>>>>>>>> into the yarn.

>>>>>>>> Bob's sidekick Jim Berg
>>>>>>>> ran the huge Dryers
>>>>>>>> a super hot
>>>>>>>> chemical steam bath area.

>>>>>>>> Jim married
>>>>>>>> my childhood friend Pamela
>>>>>>>> and passed away too soon
>>>>>>>> from a heart attack

>>>>>>>> I'm not sure how workers
>>>>>>>> down there
>>>>>>>> survived the heat
>>>>>>>> and harsh smell.

>>>>>>>> Actually
>>>>>>>> I noticed not so well
>>>>>>>> as years went by
>>>>>>>> several old friends
>>>>>>>> still haunt me.

>>>>>>>> There was a guy named Bill
>>>>>>>> from Chicago
>>>>>>>> found in the Dryer room
>>>>>>>> coughing up blood from TB.

>>>>>>>> Chip, another Autoclave man
>>>>>>>> was found
>>>>>>>> giggling in the warehouse
>>>>>>>> up in the bales of fiber
>>>>>>>> one line of meth too many.

>>>>>>>> Little Rosell
>>>>>>>> on the Reels downstairs
>>>>>>>> hot little femme fatale
>>>>>>>> who I would know better later.

>>>>>>>> An unteresting lady
>>>>>>>> in her Daisy Duke shorts
>>>>>>>> and "Flashdance" shirt
>>>>>>>> she was the supervisors' choice.

>>>>>>>> Pipe smoking old Mr. Green
>>>>>>>> found in a hallway
>>>>>>>> died there of old age.

>>>>>>>> The list goes on
>>>>>>>> many who did not survive
>>>>>>>> until the shut down day
>>>>>>>> another poem for another day.

>>>>>>>> At that time of the night
>>>>>>>> with machines all running right
>>>>>>>> many of us could wander
>>>>>>>> have some coffee
>>>>>>>> and get some fresh air.

>>>>>>>> Bob was a good friend
>>>>>>>> at the job
>>>>>>>> quick with a joke
>>>>>>>> or pass his pipe for a toke.

>>>>>>>> Many smokers and drinkers
>>>>>>>> would hang out
>>>>>>>> on the porch
>>>>>>>> outside the Autoclave room.

>>>>>>>> When he heard
>>>>>>>> of my latest domestic disaster
>>>>>>>> Bob offered
>>>>>>>> to rent me a room.

>>>>>>>> In a rented room
>>>>>>>> in Bob's trailer
>>>>>>>> like a scene from The Odd Couple
>>>>>>>> without the laughs.

>>>>>>>> The bottom fell out
>>>>>>>> we didn't get along
>>>>>>>> outside of the job
>>>>>>>> so I moved out
>>>>>>>> to North Highland.

>>>>>>>> I moved in
>>>>>>>> next door to the Holt family
>>>>>>>> old school mill folk
>>>>>>>> in the former mill village.

>>>>>>>> Don, Walter and Karen Holden
>>>>>>>> all worked at
>>>>>>>> Shadowville Spinning Mill
>>>>>>>> like their family before them.

>>>>>>>> Karen worked in the supply room
>>>>>>>> Walter ran the Autoclave in Plant One
>>>>>>>> Don covered my job
>>>>>>>> during the say shift.