Zombies

October 27, 2008

Merry Sunday night in Asheville. We went to the tiki bar on Patton Avenue after Cantaria, an adventure in itself. We discovered that two amazing things were happening at once. Sarah Palin was speaking at the Civic Center, and one sort of crowd was there. But it was the Night of the Zombies in the real Asheville, and hundreds (I heard 700) of zombies slouched and stalked across the intersection of Coxe and Patton on their way to an outdoors showing (I think) of Night of the Living Dead. People of all ages with axes in their heads and corpse-making makeup, crying out “We want brains!” and tying up traffic, and all the motorists grinning at the tide of transcendent silliness flowing around them. A highlight was a zombie carrying a placard with Palin’s image on it, reading, “Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid.” It was like a Mozart opera, absurd and sublime in one moment. If I’ve ever been prouder of my hometown, I don’t know when it was.

The chili at the tiki bar made me sick all night. It is mid-morning and the remnants of it are still repeating. Seems a small price to pay. Or maybe that was the first sign of zombification.

At the bar MN gushed about apiece of mine she saw in The Sun. The last time we talked she was using me publically as a bad example. Part of Asheville supposes I have a house in Galway. I shall think of them as foretellers.

Sent Anna Livia and Edward the King to the Dublin Gay Theater Festival. Nothing would make me happier.