the Madman and his Bride

i sat eating my edamame, minding my own business amidst the bickering, when in walked the Madman and his Bride. he approached (she did not) and told me that he modeled his life upon that of a blind hot dog vendor who tirelessly plied his trade in the Great Depression, oblivious to collapse around him. he spoke of poetries unspoken and i told him of Barthelme.

(all of these disclosures took place in a cloud of nicotine mist)

the beauty took pause (to breathe) and one of the bickering parties asked the Madman, "what's been going on with you?"

the Madman responded (equal parts genius and panache), "the same things that have been going on with you, just in a different place."

the Madman returned to his Bride; i returned to my edamame.