The Galvanized Gimp (3)

   
   "The Galvanized Gimp (3)"
   
   All was well in the Celestial Heavens for Jude and his biological mother, allowing them a moonlit night, which did reflect the Sun's blessing upon their modest home, where within, the disabled adolescent and his non-defiled mother sat, her explaining:  "Jesus Christ was a popular guy.  They followed Him, ate with Him, flocked to wherever He went; however, when He said you must eat of My body and drink of My blood, not My symbolic body and blood--if you are to be raised and have eternal life; plus, during His arrest and crucifixion--they fled from Him.  When times were easy, they were there; on the contrary, when challenged to have confidence in Him, they fled."
   Jude wept.  He only had faith in the Lord; plus, those that had faith in Him as well.  He wished to wear the Roman Collar, but knew his asymmetrical aspects would keep him on the sidelines; still, he would be a soldier for Christ, remembering King David's words about true service, and the best service being service to God--the mighty bard/fighter voicing in the Book of Psalms:  "Wine to make man's heart happy, and herb for the service of man."
   Jude had never tasted true wine.  But was always eating herbs and talking to God, which puts many cancers into a state of eternal remission.  
   So, as his biological mother exited his bedroom, he pulled the covers over himself, made the sign of the cross, and praised God; moreover, uttered an Act of Hope, remembering that even though Saint Joan of Arc was abandoned and ridiculed, a bizarre man named Mark Twain, him not giving a rat's tail about writing any book save her biography--and from this point of view, helped the Saint rise from the ashes and become the Phoenix she will eternally be, for after its publication, she was shortly thereafter canonized, mysteriously. 

Conan "secret of steel"

The Galvanized Gimp (2)

   
   "The Galvanized Gimp (2)"
   
   Jude was cruising around in his wheelchair on the driveway that connected to his humble yet holy habitat.  The neighbor, a teenage girl, adorned in tight jeans to vacuum up the cottage cheese in her buttocks approached with a look of disgust concerning the legless boy.  She stuck out her tongue; next, cruelly offered:  "Just die already.  What kind of respect will you get as a gimp?"
   Jude smiled, saying:  "Respect is earned.  Giving dignity to the disabled is duty; furthermore, your father is the father of lies and murder.  He was a murderer and liar from the beginning."
   The neighborhood tart swiftly responded:  "At least I can walk.  My father gave me legs, and your father gave you a handicap."
   Jude raised his head to the holy skies, pronouncing:  "God made me special.  And you could be very special too, if you hung your sins on a wall, confessing publicly, and reminding yourself to never do them again."
   "What has it gotten you?"  The girl asked.
   Jude replied:  "Eternal life, and a mother waiting to gently pass me to the father."
   The girl walked away.  Jude continued to roll wisely in his wheelchair, praying for the girl as instructed by the altruistic Rabbi--true God and true man.  

Raw Deal Clip

UCD Ad Astra Ensemble

The Galvanized Gimp (1)

   
   "The Galvanized Gimp (1)"
   
   Jude Rokavic, named such as his erudite mother had paged through Jude the Obscure by Hardy, which T. S. Eliot applauded vocally as being:  "The greatest work of literary sublimity."  Too bad people don't connect the dots about it today.  Too much zombie on the mind.  Not knowing, like having a credit card in the 70's and 80's was the only way you could pass through the allegorical gates, rent a video at the store, the whole bag of magically venomous beans.
   Anyway, Jude was a lovely boy, born without legs, and tooled around, though he wasn't a tool, in his wheelchair, powered by arm strength, using his mind to journey to wonderful places.
   His mother home-schooled him.  Taught the young adolescent about all the poets and sci-fi prophets, starting with Blake and Shelley, reminding him of today's computerized dangers, Blake having blasted the Industrial Revolution by way of verse, saying:  "Satanic slave mines that rob men of their imagination."  Next, another autodidact, as was Shelley and Blake, a more modern man, Philip K. Dick, showcasing how technology would transform into terror; thus, the corporeally manipulated wheelchair, which was powered by the arms, which were powered by the spirit.
   Jude's days were filled with reading and classical music; plus, opera, having a particular fancy for Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries.  His Dad was absent, not being able to face a gimp of a child, blaming the mother, himself, the boy, pharmaceutical companies; plus, everything under and beyond the shimmering Sun.  But Jude's mother was loyal and would never let another man dominated by humping hubris invade her now inviolate life.  She was Jude's guardian and mirror of justice.

Catholic Joke Told By My Serbian Orthodox Pap

   
   "Catholic Joke Told By My Serbian Orthodox Pap"
   
   When I was merely sixteen years of age, I bolted from home due to bullies, driving an approximate 1,000 miles on the asphalt ballet of it all--from Little Rock to Richmond.  I did this numerous times, but my folks kept stealing me back, though I preferred the solace and harbor of safety my Grandparents did offer.  But I never scrubbed Grandma's floors, and I still feel guilty about it, even 30 years later.
   Anyway, my Pap was born of a Serbian immigrant named Dragan Radulovic.  He was Serbian Orthodox, though Grandma was Catholic.  He said the Pope made you eat fish on Fridays because his brother was a fisherman and it increased business.  But there was more.
   As I observed my Pap suck in on his Tareyton cigarette, armed with a two-part filter of fiber and activated charcoal, he exhaled this joke:
    A lady forgot her purse in the pew after Mass.  The Priest, later in the day, found it and looked through it for identification.  Unearthing it, he called her.  She arrived shortly and picked it up.  After handing it to her, the Priest said:  "You know--the Virgin Mary never smoked cigarettes."  The lady boldly looked the Priest in the eyes, replying:  "And Jesus Christ never drove a Cadillac."