lives of others

my mother asked me what crabs are. i told her, "an std."

she said, "i've heard of the clap. i've never heard of crabs. what are they exactly? it's not syphillis, is it?"

i told her, "not syphillis. crabs are critters, sexually transmitted critters. like lice. or gnats"

don't even know if i'm exactly right. but she seemed satisfied. it came up in a novel she is reading on my say so.

tra la. tra la. tra la.