[The Picturesque Gothique]

Little did they know how years affect a house. Everything had always been so pre-fab, so fab-lit, so track and field. Grass is greener when it’s Astroturf. Birds won’t break their neck against an appliqué cat. But, lost in the deep south, they–with their kindred ‘theyness,’ their wrinkle resistant pants–stood toeing the splintered porch. Some people, said the landlord, let the kudzu grow right up. And how he spit was not the picturesque gothique, not the twaddling BBQ pig offering up his own meat. Sure enough, kudzu will swallow a house whole–not even a forest left to mark the clearing. Little did they know how now they would have to find a real cat. Learn to decorate the windowsill so he would lean there.