on the hancock building.
you know they’ve been
doing construction work
there, right? they put
that big wall up around
the block, the tall
fence, and they’ve been
doing remodeling stuff.
well, i had been working
on some tile work and
we were just walking
around the building, me
and three other guys,
walking kind of like a
square, in formation,
sort of, and i’m at the
back and i stop and step
back to check some of
the grout work, so i just
kind of lean back while
standing still. well, one
of the guys says he heard
it coming, like a big rush
of air, like a whistling
sound, but much heavier.
i didn’t even get a chance
to look up, though one of
the other guys did and
saw it coming a split second
before it happened. and the
next thing i knew there was
this loud cracking sound
and i felt all of this stuff
hit me, like wet concrete
thrown at me, but i didn’t
know what the hell it was.
and i opened my eyes and looked
down and i was just completely
covered in blood
and there was just this
heap of mass right in front of
me. it took a while for me
to realize that a woman jumped.
she hit the fence, her head
and spinal cord were still
stuck on the fence and the
rest of her was just this red
pile right in front of me.
the police had to take all of
my clothes. every inch.
they say she broke through the
glass at the fiftieth floor, i don’t
know how, that glass is supposed
to be bullet proof or something.
and the one thing i noticed was
that she covered her head with
panty hose, in an effort to keep
her face together. funny, she
was so willing to die, but she
wanted to be kept in tact. i know
i won’t hear about this on the
news, they try to downplay suicides,
but other violence is fine for them.
and they say she was handi-
capped, but then how badly, and
how did she get the strength
to break the window and throw
herself out of the john hancock
building? she must have really
wanted to die.
it really hasn’t sunk in quite yet,
seeing her fall apart in front
of me like that. i don’t think i’m
ready to think about it yet.
Scars Publications and Design
in conjunction with Penny Dreadful Press
first edition
copyright @ 2004 Scars Publications and Design
This book, as a whole, is fiction, and no correlation should be made between events in the book and events in real life. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher.
Information about past books is available upon request through Scars Publications and Design. Materials from the literary magazines “Children, Churches and Daddies” and “Down in the Dirt” are available on line at http://scars.tv, as are .mp3 files, .ra files, .aif files, .au files, .wav files .mov and mpeg files of Kuypers, both reading her work and singing with three sets of musicians.
Oeuvre is published through Scars Publications and Design, whose publisher is a member/minister through the Universal Life Church. Scars Publications and Design, the logo and associated graphics @ 1979 - 2004. All rights reserved. Kuypers and Scars Publications and Design welcome your comments, tips, compliments or complaints. Direct all comments and suggestions to the e-mail addresses listed above.
The definition of oeuvre (the works of a writer, painter, or the like, taken as a whole) is from the Websters Unabridged 2001 Dictionary.
Editor@scars.tv
http://scars.tv
and assistance from Freedom & Strength Foundation, Troy Press, Hawthorne Press & Dried Roses Press
printed in the United States of America
writings @ 1979-2004 Janet Kuypers
book design @ 1998-2004 Scars Publications and Design