I Used to Ride in the Rodeo
You going to take down that mirror? You’ll need four people. That thing is heavy as a broken heart. Four people to take it down. Maybe three. Me? I spent twenty years in the army, five in the nick, five in the rodeo. Snakeskin boots, pretty as a girl. Bucking broncos. Steer wrestling. Yeah, and calf roping. They’d let loose a calf and I’d chase it on horseback. Jump it, grab it, turn its head to ground, tie three feet together. A wrap and a slap. Dangerous? Hell yeah. That’s a fine piece of glass, that is. I can see the whole room from right here. You need four people, or it’s gonna break. You don’t mind if it breaks? Know what you get when you play a country song backwards? Gonna love this. You get your house back, your job back, your girl back… Yeah, I been to Nashville. Been all over America. Canada too. And China. Saw a man there with his fingernails fifteen inches long. Curly they was, all painted up. How does he do anything? He don’t need to. He’s only there for decoration. Ain’t you never heard of Feng Shui? You take that mirror down, it’ll be a lot darker in here. I won’t be able to see myself or the room no more, I won’t know if the love of my life walks in. You want to leave that mirror where it is. You ain’t really going to take that mirror down?
I Used to Ride in the Rodeo was first published in Popshot Issue 30, November 2020.