Friday, October 19, 2012

Big Tex Burning

Burnt, actually. The boots and the clothes and the face and the hat. The arm out toward the waving hand. The metal structure was left still standing. Also the outstretched hand and its cuff. The belt buckle survived, still pinned to the metal frame. A belt buckle on a faceless cage of a man.

The voice of Big Tex does not live in the 52-foot tall cowboy. The head is not empty, holds the speakers and the wiring that moves the mouth, but the voice comes from a man in a trailer without air conditioning on the ground a piece away. Someone had to tell Bill Bragg that Big Tex was burning, he was still reading announcements, and then the voice stepped out of the trailer, watched the icon smoke and flame, saying nothing.

They'll rebuild, of course. Tex burned a little after 10 o'clock and by noon he was a phoenix promised to rise again.

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