{"id":7933,"date":"2014-05-15T06:30:03","date_gmt":"2014-05-15T13:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/?p=7933"},"modified":"2021-09-30T13:40:36","modified_gmt":"2021-09-30T20:40:36","slug":"exterminator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/","title":{"rendered":"EXTERMINATOR!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Exterminator!\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m looking at my copy of
\nExterminator! by William S. Burroughs
\nthe white bordered Penguin version from the 80\u2019s
\nwith the upside down painting on the cover
\nor, rather
\nthe painting is OF someone
\nupside down<\/p>\n

They all were
\nAll three
\n– Junky, Exterminator!, Queer –
\nwhite bordered copies from the 80\u2019s
\nwith the upside down
\nimpressionist people paintings on the covers
\nOnly
\nmy copies of Junky and Queer were loaned out and
\nlike so many loaned books
\nmost, it seems
\nthey were never returned
\nStolen when you get right down to it
\nwhich is odd
\nbecause
\nI only loan books
\nto \u201cfriends\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyway,
\nI\u2019m trying to replace the
\nwhite bordered copies
\nof Junky and Queer from the 80\u2019s
\nwith the upside down
\nimpressionist people paintings on the covers
\nso I\u2019m looking through Exterminator!
\nfor clues and
\nin the back
\nI see a sticker that reminds me I picked them up at
\nThe Stone Lion<\/p>\n

And my mind
\ninstantly flashes back
\nto that great fucking book store<\/p>\n

How it smelled
\nits exterior of stone
\nthe old bank vault in the back
\nthe way the sun came in through the windows
\nto light up the shelves
\nart books, cartoon books
\nFrazetta and B. Kliban
\nI think of the Julian May book I didn\u2019t buy
\nand that collection of Twain\u2019s short stories
\nHow I discovered Gabriel Garcia Marquez there
\nand how sad it was when the store moved
\nout from under its namesake
\nthe stone lion
\nto whimper awhile at an inferior location
\nand then die<\/p>\n

I flip back through the pages
\nof my copy of Exterminator!
\nwith its white bordered
\nupside down
\nimpressionist person painting on the cover
\nand I see
\ntucked into the crease between pages 12 and 13
\n – The Lemon Kid –
\na torn off matchbook cover
\ngrey green brown
\nHoliday Inn it says on one side
\nand on the other
\nupside down
\n– or, rather
\nit was placed here absent-mindedly by the reader that way
\nand written in ink counter to how the logo
\non the other side is printed –
\nthe words:<\/p>\n

LUNCH
\n11\/23\/89<\/p>\n

It takes me a second
\nas I ponder what this means
\nto recognize that the handwriting
\n– seemingly gone over again here and there
\nbecause the ball of the point
\nprotested
\nat the gloss of the matchbook cover\u2019s paper –
\nis most likely
\nlooks very similar to
\nmakes the most sense as
\nhas to be the hand of<\/p>\n

my mother<\/p>\n

Almost 25 years later
\nI sit staring
\nat a reminder
\nof a meeting
\nat a meal
\nwith a purpose
\nin a book
\nthat I don\u2019t remember<\/p>\n

None of it<\/p>\n

It\u2019s gone<\/p>\n

And then I realize
\nMy copies of Junky and Queer
\nare gone
\nThe Stone Lion Bookstore
\nis gone
\nNovember 23rd, 1989
\nis gone
\nThe person who I was when reading this book
\nis gone
\nMy mother
\nand the way she wrote her letters and numbers
\nsang us to wakefulness on school mornings
\nmade dancing alligator puppets of her hands to songs on the radio
\nwhistled for her sons and dogs with the same distinctive pattern
\nmade up incredible stories for me during long drives
\ntweaked the pudge of my earlobes well past the age I would tolerate it
\ntaught me how to survive my father and my brother and the world
\nwith humor, compassion, and a core of tight steel
\nthat you reveal to almost no one, ever
\nis gone<\/p>\n

The book remains
\nunread<\/p>\n

cae 5-15-13<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m looking at my copy of Exterminator! by William S. Burroughs the white bordered Penguin version from the 80\u2019s with the upside down painting on the cover or, rather the painting is OF someone upside down<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[860,858,859,857,856],"class_list":["post-7933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-exterminator","tag-junky","tag-queer","tag-stone-lion-bookstore","tag-william-s-burroughs"],"yoast_head":"\nEXTERMINATOR!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EXTERMINATOR!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m looking at my copy of Exterminator! by William S. Burroughs the white bordered Penguin version from the 80\u2019s with the upside down painting on the cover or, rather the painting is OF someone upside down\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"coreyshead\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/coreyaedwards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-15T13:30:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-30T20:40:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/exterminator.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Corey A. Edwards\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Corey A. Edwards\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/15\\\/exterminator\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/15\\\/exterminator\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Corey A. Edwards\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1db586e2b6698eb23d62b4e881ee2479\"},\"headline\":\"EXTERMINATOR!\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-15T13:30:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-30T20:40:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/15\\\/exterminator\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":580,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/15\\\/exterminator\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/exterminator.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Exterminator!\",\"Junky\",\"Queer\",\"Stone Lion Bookstore\",\"William S. Burroughs\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Poetry\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/15\\\/exterminator\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/15\\\/exterminator\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/15\\\/exterminator\\\/\",\"name\":\"EXTERMINATOR!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/15\\\/exterminator\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/15\\\/exterminator\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/exterminator.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-15T13:30:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-30T20:40:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1db586e2b6698eb23d62b4e881ee2479\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/15\\\/exterminator\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/05\\\/15\\\/exterminator\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/exterminator.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/exterminator.jpg\",\"width\":908,\"height\":817,\"caption\":\"Exterminator!\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"coreyshead\",\"description\":\"Just another fist-full of lips on the weekend.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1db586e2b6698eb23d62b4e881ee2479\",\"name\":\"Corey A. Edwards\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99aab955427dc38942c6aec34ce90e34633a92a4d52ecca088caa198d5146222?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99aab955427dc38942c6aec34ce90e34633a92a4d52ecca088caa198d5146222?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99aab955427dc38942c6aec34ce90e34633a92a4d52ecca088caa198d5146222?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Corey A. Edwards\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/coreyaedwards\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coreyshead.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/cae\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EXTERMINATOR!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"EXTERMINATOR!","og_description":"I\u2019m looking at my copy of Exterminator! by William S. Burroughs the white bordered Penguin version from the 80\u2019s with the upside down painting on the cover or, rather the painting is OF someone upside down","og_url":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/","og_site_name":"coreyshead","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/coreyaedwards","article_published_time":"2014-05-15T13:30:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-09-30T20:40:36+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/exterminator.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Corey A. Edwards","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Corey A. Edwards","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/"},"author":{"name":"Corey A. Edwards","@id":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1db586e2b6698eb23d62b4e881ee2479"},"headline":"EXTERMINATOR!","datePublished":"2014-05-15T13:30:03+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-30T20:40:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/"},"wordCount":580,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/exterminator.jpg","keywords":["Exterminator!","Junky","Queer","Stone Lion Bookstore","William S. Burroughs"],"articleSection":["Poetry"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/","url":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/","name":"EXTERMINATOR!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/exterminator.jpg","datePublished":"2014-05-15T13:30:03+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-30T20:40:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1db586e2b6698eb23d62b4e881ee2479"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/15\/exterminator\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/exterminator.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/exterminator.jpg","width":908,"height":817,"caption":"Exterminator!"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/","name":"coreyshead","description":"Just another fist-full of lips on the weekend.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1db586e2b6698eb23d62b4e881ee2479","name":"Corey A. Edwards","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99aab955427dc38942c6aec34ce90e34633a92a4d52ecca088caa198d5146222?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99aab955427dc38942c6aec34ce90e34633a92a4d52ecca088caa198d5146222?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99aab955427dc38942c6aec34ce90e34633a92a4d52ecca088caa198d5146222?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Corey A. Edwards"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/coreyshead.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/coreyaedwards"],"url":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/author\/cae\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7933"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11258,"href":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7933\/revisions\/11258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreyshead.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}