Shay

Child Of The 80s
I was born half past midnight in the bleak mid-Winter. Jupiter eclipsed Mars and cast an ominous glow on a shadowed patch of green known as Earth. The eyeball kids were standing outside my mother's hospital window begging for some 'shine', as they liked to call it. My uncle Med, the one with the cut off finger, tried to quiet them by running outside with little Ella's cane. He was afraid they would put a fright into the newborn baby.I was raised in a small swamp town in the deep southern United States. My mother would never let me go to the carnival. It came to town every July and pitched its tents in front of the local Piggly Wiggly store, right down the road from the funeral home. I would always sneak away on those summer afternoons and watch the workers pitch the tents and set up the booths. The clowns would always be sitting around a table, make up half on, smoking cigarettes and talking about the how some guy named Jerry was always ‘screwing them over’. I would think of my dad’s friend Jerry who went blind due to diabetes and then I’d think about my old Aunt Wog, who also went blind right after she gave birth to her first son. I was always afraid of going blind. I was also afraid of the clowns.When I was in high school people said I had an over active imagination. I would tell my friends about my encounters with a wild man that lived near my family’s farmhouse. I would catch glimpses of Wild Man running through the woods, half naked grunting and occasionally letting out staccato yells. One of the church ladies told me that she thought Wild Man was a product of a brother and sister union. I also had a crush on a girl in chemistry class. I was too afraid to tell her so I charted out a route through the school hallways that I was sure would intersect hers. As I approached her I would adopt a gaunt look by slightly sucking in the sides of my mouth. I hoped that I would look mysterious. I never spoke to her.My oldest brother was killed in a freak shooting accident.While in college I was almost thrown in jail for breaking into a house. It was all a big misunderstanding. I was pledging a fraternity and had decided along with my pledge brothers to break into the home of a frat brother who had been hazing us during our pledging process. We were going to shake him up a bit by duct taping his hands and feet together and dropping him off at the public cemetery. We didn’t realize that his sister lived at his house with him. She called the cops and we were chased down by several policemen. Charges were never pressed.After college graduation I worked at a zoo in a little place called Jack, Alabama and was attacked by a baby gorilla during feeding time. There were no permanent scars. After leaving the zoo, I roamed the country in a caravan with a couple of comedians and storytellers...Well, that last bit was almost true...I actually taught music at a school in Alabama for a couple years, dropped out of normal life and roamed the country in a black suburban with two other musicians. We'd perform at any old place that would take a chance on booking us for the night. I often see things that are not there. I suffer extremes but you'd never know it if I didn't tell you.I’m fortunate that I’ve had works published and receive money for my creations so I pretty much set my own schedule. This is fortunate because I could never image having to go to a steady job. I’m thinking about moving near an ocean. I love the water.If you want to read more about me go to: www.shaywatson.com or visit my music page. Click on the song on my profile and it will take you there.