Things About Callie
Timothy Gager
You get nowhere fast with Callie. She is slow and mellow. When you want something from Callie, she’ll let it go, until it feels normal, like a warm breeze. Callie can also get nowhere fast. She is late most of the time. “Leave earlier,” I tell her. Callie says it doesn’t matter. Callie’s brain processes like a grid of highways and every highway of hers is crowded. “Often,” she says, “I’m at a standstill.”
Callie is broke and over budget. Callie shouldn’t have a budget. She’s taxing when she is in a deficit. Callie has thrown in the towel. When she goes to hell in a hand basket, she no longer cares for the people in her heart.
Callie is often in a depressed state.
But Callie rarely has a storm. Sometimes I want Callie to get mad in a normal kind of way, but without warning, suddenly, here comes an earthquake! Every so often she is affected by mudslides. She becomes angry and drunk. Bad things happen to her peeps, as bad things happen to her. Callie can be left devastated at any time.
Also, Callie is involved. She is governed by a man not from this country. He is a dirty, cheating scumbag. Callie would like to come to terms with this and would like him to leave. He loves her but he’s a bad actor. She used to love him, but he was a charmer that everyone loved. He is due to leave shortly--his time is up—things got bad, but she’s terrified he’ll say, “I’ll be back.”
Callie is lower in emissions. “That’s what happens to women in their forties,” she says. I used to love to drive into Callie. I used to feel so much power behind her. Now we just putter around.
Even with all that, I still love Callie. Callie is smoky and warm, long and beautiful. Callie is lovely so I try not to let the other things get to me. If I think too hard, I know, Callie will break away, become independent, but I have no control over that, nor I, for this: One day she sails off forever, ending up in the Pacific Ocean and I’ll be standing there on a new shore, wondering if she’ll ever recover.
Callie is broke and over budget. Callie shouldn’t have a budget. She’s taxing when she is in a deficit. Callie has thrown in the towel. When she goes to hell in a hand basket, she no longer cares for the people in her heart.
Callie is often in a depressed state.
But Callie rarely has a storm. Sometimes I want Callie to get mad in a normal kind of way, but without warning, suddenly, here comes an earthquake! Every so often she is affected by mudslides. She becomes angry and drunk. Bad things happen to her peeps, as bad things happen to her. Callie can be left devastated at any time.
Also, Callie is involved. She is governed by a man not from this country. He is a dirty, cheating scumbag. Callie would like to come to terms with this and would like him to leave. He loves her but he’s a bad actor. She used to love him, but he was a charmer that everyone loved. He is due to leave shortly--his time is up—things got bad, but she’s terrified he’ll say, “I’ll be back.”
Callie is lower in emissions. “That’s what happens to women in their forties,” she says. I used to love to drive into Callie. I used to feel so much power behind her. Now we just putter around.
Even with all that, I still love Callie. Callie is smoky and warm, long and beautiful. Callie is lovely so I try not to let the other things get to me. If I think too hard, I know, Callie will break away, become independent, but I have no control over that, nor I, for this: One day she sails off forever, ending up in the Pacific Ocean and I’ll be standing there on a new shore, wondering if she’ll ever recover.
