Random Souls I've Known

I met Seth in a rehab/ crisis center. He was a white guy with dark hair, buddy-holly glasses and a frequent smirk. He loved comic books and action figures, had a drinking problem, and had led a wild and interesting(if wasteful) life; He could draw with remarkable detail and excellence. He thought he was grandly educated but was only minimally so; He really was strong and savvy in many ways, although he'd ended up there for slashing his arm pretty badly, for not the first time(perhaps an eruption of a troubled conscience)

A long time before, while looking into joining the Air-Force: I met an athletic young prospective Marine beaming with youthful strength, resourcefulness, and perhaps irrational exuberance. The drill instructor was brow-beating me because I was struggling to perform a certain required physical exercise. Eventually, I got it done, and got a pass. Outside, he offered his hand, encouraged me, and said that my willingness to go out on a limb was more in the "semper fi" spirit than the drill instructor's negativty. The military, aided by my excellent aptitude test scores, gave me a pass to join... which I declined.

Then later, in cosmopolitan Portland, Oregon, there was the skin-bald orange-cloaked sage in the chaotic train station who gave me a copy of "The Bhagagavita." I was feeling down and shaken at the moment, but he sensed something in me(I could see it in his eyes,) and sent me off with uplifting words. My mom would have given him a donation but happened not to have cash; He didn't mind in the least.

Later or earlier(I'm unsure,) there was that half-black fellow student in my university literature classes(tall and athletic with an intelligent face.) He was, like me, an English major and fairly quiet in class; Once he told me that he thought I had a real gift, that he'd love to be able to put his thoughts and feelings clearly into words; At S.O.U., we had small, conversation-heavy classes. He was sincere and passionate, and it means something to me to this day.

Later, having walked out of a plush job, wandering the urban streets of Portland, Oregon, I came across a beautiful church. Inside, I took in the mesmerizing stained-glass windows: crosses and doves and martyrs. I was introducted to the pastor, and he comforted me as we talked about my troubles and my plans(teaching English in Asia.) Before walking out, I put a dollar in a hymn book and said a prayer: friends and circumstances had shaken my life-long atheism for a brief period.

More recently, in a psych ward, there was the bi-polar old woman(who'd quite avoided psychiatrists for decades) who said she just needed some help, couldn't make it anymore. We played a game of checkers with a magical board and I felt friendship and humaternity. I left the next day to continue my solitary life as a silicon monk

Then there's Shauna, my hard-working bartender. She's a little plump but cheerful, and she works like a fiend. I can see it in her eyes that she likes me(no, not that way,) and finds me interesting. We never have time to talk too long because somebody always needs another drink or a hamburger or something. Before the recent Obama-care bill, she had no health insurance but now she does. Unfortunately, I don't see her very often because I realize my heavy drinking has caused me problems over the years. These days, when I drink, I keep it very moderate and under control. But I remember the worst times, periods of pathetic self-destruction, and I never want to go there again.

Then there's my parents' border collie Minnie(one of two,) who is every bit as devoted to me as to either of them. We have a special bond. When I come back from the jungles of Thailand, the unnerving streets of Portland, or the therapeutic mineral springs in Ashland, she's joyous to greet me. She wags her tail and licks my hand, and reminds that I am after all just another beast in this gigantic and wild galaxy, in which no Gods or spirits dwell: but creatures, phenomena, and enigmas of mind-eclipsing bizzarity do.