Hugo and the Newsletter

It was Hugo's newsletter.
We all heard about it.
Distributed all over.
Everybody talked and talked.

Did you hear he used three printers?
Yes, we know he used three printers.

Did you hear he double-stapled?
Yes, we saw it with our own eyes.

It was hard to believe at first, though.
But actually, why? Everyone loves Hugo.

Blue eyes frosted with malice.
Sneering lips, a charming boar of a man.

There's really nothing he can't accomplish.
Some people are born to get attention.

Then there's that thing that happened.
Wait, what do you mean by "thing"?

That guy down on 30th Street, the Russian.
The guy with the grizzly bear hat? What of him?

He burned some. Burned some? Yes, I guess he . . .
Well we all get sick some times, Lily. That's what--

Hugo isn't for anything like that. Don't accuse him.
You can't just speak of someone like an object!

Needless to say I walked away with one slap that evening.
That evening my face felt like a well-oiled gong.

The next day was all prairies and graffiti strips.
It went by like nothing had happened, ever. Not one day.

Lily was a beautiful woman who wore long dresses.
Green dresses, the kind that hung like coats of moss.

When I wasn't trying to stop my thoughts about Lily,
I was trying to stop getting distracted by Hugo and his newsletter.

Then Mark happened. Mark was an old friend.
He came from cash but he also came from the West.

Did you hear about Mark?
No, what about Mark?

He put out a newsletter.
Is it any good? Mark's stuff is usually terrible.

It's pretty informative.
But it looks like shit, doesn't it?

Well it's missing something.
Well what? What do you mean, "missing something"?

He forgot to put the date on it.
Oh my god . . . the date? The date of the newsletter?

Yes. It was the day after you got slapped.
By you, you mean? When my face felt like a gong?

Yes, a well-oiled gong. It was the day you were too busy.
Too busy doing what? Feeling your appendage attack me?

Thinking of yourself of course. You just don't learn. Excuse me.
Now wait a sec, where do you think you're going?

Over to Hugo's. He's going to write me,
write me into a feature in his next newsletter.

Well be careful. Have you ever been to see him before?
No but there really isn't any risk.

Yes, he does have some great facial features.
Like his eyes of malice. And the grip of his fingers.

You really pay attention to this Hugo, don't you?
All I know is he's going to make me see circles.

Then I thought to myself like a beach expanding to parking lot--
If I had a circle for every bruised face I wanted to create . . .