Something Else

1)

“When I am on the horse, I can pretend I am not here,” the young woman says. One of the Palestinian elite, she says this inside the confines of an equestrian club. Who doesn’t know this trick of the mind, this gift of privilege, this curse? “When I come down, I am back in reality.”

2)

At the end of “One for Daddy-O,” a eight-minute cut off Cannonball Adderly’s classic album, Miles Davis croaks out into the voluminous silence, “That what you want, Alfred?” At least, I think it’s Miles. It sure sounds like his trademark rasp. And the wicked smile built into those five words sounds like Miles, too. It’s straight-out braggadocio. He knows that’s what Alfred wants. The producer leans into the intercom to impart, “That’s a take,” but Davis beats him to the punch. Even when it’s not his gig, Miles makes sure everyone knows he’s the boss.

3)

In Lubbock, Texas, visiting a friend, I got into a game of H-O-R-S-E. Seeing that we were both poets, we decided to play L-E-V-I-S instead. (It was that or L-O-R-C-A.) I went on a little run and had the guy L-E-V-I to L-E, ball in my hands. I’d already done a move he couldn’t execute (round the back, catch it with the same hand, reverse off the glass) but gave him a second try. (Rule #1 in H-O-R-S-E: never lower the bar). I missed my next shot. Dude’s a shooting guard by nature, and competitive: he went on his own little run and won the game with a long corner three-pointer. I had my chance, had my foot on his proverbial neck, and (Rule #2) I let up.