I saw Nipsey on the streets of NY once, sometime in the mid-80s.
I shouted, “Hey — it’s Nipsey Russell!”
And he looked over at me,
and for the first time I think in his whole life, Nipsey stopped smiling.
It was like I could hear the planet itself
slow to a loud, crunching halt, its rotation full-stopped
by the sour expression on the face of this game-show icon.
The air puckered.
And then some super villain — I forget which, maybe Electro?
dropped down in front of me, picked up a car, and tossed it over my head.
OK, maybe it wasn’t Electro then. He isn’t that strong.
The Rhino?
Anyways, he tucked Nipsey under his arm
like a smallish bale of hay
and he was gone.
Sometime later the world started turning again.
But I never forgot that day.
And I’m pretty sure neither did Nipsey Russell.
Now do the one about Huggy Bear.
MORE!!
Saw Tiny Tim on a corner in NY once. Salad days were long gone, and I felt a little bad for him. But my sympathetic glance was not met. So I segued into staring because, c’mon, he was wearing this suit covered with staves and clefs and what not. Right about then would’ve been a good time for Tim to be transported aloft by a supervillain. But the affordable one was all tied up on the west side with you and Nipsey, so we just crossed the street.