“I’m quite tired of beating myself up to write. I think I’ll start letting the words slip out like a tired child. ‘Can I have a piece of pie’ he asks, and then he’s asleep back on the cusp of the moon.”
– Jim Harrison
Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god of primordial creation, swaggered drunk through the door at 6AM this morning as I was getting ready for work.
He does this every time he comes to visit – drinks pulque all night with his cousins in Queens, then comes to sleep it off on my couch.
When he wakes up he will eat an entire box of Pop-Tarts and drink all the orange juice. He’s just like that. Fun god to know, but lousy houseguest.
With all those snakes and war hammers and other cool god gear I can’t really say no, although my wife thinks I could just not answer the door and let him sleep in the subway.
I’m sure other people have Greek goddesses for a muse, or a river spirit, or a cat. But he and I have been friends since college – ran around late at night ranting Blake at passersby and not getting anywhere with girls, even English majors. We were for sure over the top, but those rumors of live sacrifice were completely untrue.
I remember the day I met him, we were both sitting at a bus stop. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a lonelier looking kid. He looked small and lost, shrunk inside his headdress. Sure, he’d eventually grow into his godhood, but that day he was just another teenager away from home for the first time, trying to figure it all out.
I’ve never been sure who needed whom more that day, him or me.
Watching him sleep, not sure what’s still true now.
qbit 
Reblogged this on NANMYKEL.COM and commented:
Belly laugh…
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Thanks!!
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Belly laughing! Reblogging.
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Quintessential Q. Perfect!
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Thanks. I borrowed the then/now frame idea. Filled it with desperation.
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It worked 🙂
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LOLOL! But I’m gassed.
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Extra crap here today, so I was the same… several hours ago. Wrote a ton of stuff that serves as primal screaming.
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Shoot! That ain’t no god! It’s a freakin’ Econ major that never graduated. Got handed a copy of Marx in his junior year (Groucho, not Karl — more reasonable stuff, really), and it caused him to blow a gasket. Hence, the headdress…. Definitely classic q!
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I love this. The voice is perfect, and that slightly toxic relationship you can’t let go of because it means so much. Just wait. He’ll grow up suddenly, get involved with some Norse goddess and have a bunch of little godlets to worry about – what school should they go to? Are they being picked for the soccer team? …
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Hahaha! I love that – godlet children getting picked or passed over for soccer. Thanks!
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