23.
RONALD SUKE.NICIT
her life? She to14
him
in a
~
the:one
~g h~ w~ted·
to hea,r:
that
she lived with her
hUS~9 lovel~ly
• . the two
pf.
them polite strangers,
sharing a bed, lying side ,by side in the night ·
in
that bed, bodies out
of which souls had fled. There was no longer even any shame between
them·. ·
"And what abQut ·me? Do you .feel shame with me, still?" he
asked
her anxiously.
She did not answer. She kissed
him
anq prepared to leave. The
last five minutes had been so good, so fine, that she felt strangely happy.
It was like the first day of their meeting, on the beach, Anna self–
conscious and exhilarated by this -red-haired man's . presence. Only
to
exist in the same world with
him! -
did she really want any more?
And it seemed to her, suddenly, .that their love x:night possibly come
to
a conclusion. They would marry, perhaps. Or break off their relation–
ship. They would come to rest permanently in each other, pressed per–
manently together, or they would grow old and forget each other and
be free forever....
"You look so beautiful. You look so happy," he said, as if jealous
at this life inside her, this radiance he could not share. What, was it
beginning all over again? Their love beginning again, in spite of them?
"Why do you look so happy? Why?"
"Do I look happy?" she said, startled. "I don't know - I can't
help myself -
.n
Ronald Sukenick
From OUT
It all comes together. Don't fall. Each of us carries a stick
of dynamite. Concealed on his person. That does several things. One it
forms a bond. Two it makes you feel special. Three it's mute articula–
tion of the conditions we live.
in
today I mean not only
us
but every–
body the
zeitgeist
you might say if not the human condition itself and
keeps you
in
touch with reality. This is your
stic~.
Don't fall. We know
one among us is a government agent that's .inevitable. Maybe it's you.
Maybe it's me. The way we deal with that is as long as everyone does
