RKS AMERICAN LITERATURE: Hymie’s Bull (Ralph Ellison)

Posted byRobert K Stephen (CSW)Posted inhistory, literatureTags:, , , ,

Bulls are pretty bad people to meet if you’re a bum. They have head-whipping down to a science and they’re always ready to go into action. They know all the places to hit a bone to turn it into jelly, and they seem to feel just the place to kick you to make your backbone feel like it’s going to fold up like the old collapsible drinking cups we used when we were kids. One a bull hit me across the bridge of my nose and I felt I was coming apart like a cigarette floating in a urinal. They can hit you on the head and bust your shoes.

(A bull in hobo slang in this case means a railway security guard)

“Hymie’s Bull”, Ralph Ellison, 1937

Published by Robert K Stephen (CSW)

Robert K Stephen writes about food ,drink, travel, film, and lifestyle issues. He also has published serialized novels "Life at Megacorp", "Virus # 26, "Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog" and "The Penniless Pensioner" Robert was the first associate member of the Wine Writers’ Circle of Canada. He also holds a Mindfulness Certification from the University of Leiden and the University of Toronto. Be it Spanish cured meat, dried fruit, BBQ, or recycled bamboo place mats, Robert endeavours to escape the mundane, which is why he has established this publication. His motto is, "Have Story, Will Write."

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