Celeste, last night here at home
I ate as much as I could from the big bag
Of popcorn while watching The Fugitive,
Then had the pea soup from OrganicOnly
On the corner. That’s the thing about Manhattan.
Things are at hand. But the question in the movie
Was whether justice was at hand or all hope of it
Would disappear like the fugitive freedom Harrison Ford
Was seeking to preserve. No one should be calumniated
By the state for things he has not done and be made to
Live on the run from all that he holds dear. That’s why
I was so glad he had Tommy Lee Jones on the case
Mustering all his intelligence so you gradually
Saw him coming over to the side of Harrison Ford’s
Truth. Everyone needs a champion, Celeste, everyone,
And while I’d like to dwell on rocks and flowers
Or things less substantial that yet provide some
Natural delight, I need this morning to speak of that
Which burns within me and you’ll please bear with me as I do.I know there were reasons practical and spiritual for me
To forgo a lawyer in the divorce proceeding and sign
The papers your own lawyer presented, but it does pain me
That you just smiled when I expressed some doubt
The other night for the first time in all these years
As to the wisdom of my decision. Like a wall that smile was,
Sealing you in and sealing me out. That smile said a lot, Celeste.In any case, don’t be thinking I watched a movie for the entire night.
I saved the ending for this evening so I could give some time
To the book on the Armenians you told me to read.
It’s not like I don’t know about them. My father was one,
After all, and held tight to the practice of his own silence
Except for the times he would shout, out of the blue,
“We lost everything. Everything.” I’m going
To finish the book all the same and ask that Tommy
Lee Jones be assigned to that particular case as well.January 2004