Celeste, last night here at home
The Fugitive. A real thriller.
I ate as much as I could from the big bag
Of popcorn before putting it down,
Then had the pea soup from the organic food store
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
With all that intelligence on display so you slowly
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
As well as things unseen upon the earth
Except in the gossamer delight of someone’s fancy,
I need this morning to speak from that which
Is burning within me and if you’ll please
Bear with me as I do.I know there were spiritual reasons for me
To forgo a lawyer in the divorce proceeding and just sign
The papers your own lawyer presented, but it does pain me
That when I expressed some doubt the other night
For the first time in all these years as to the wisdom of my decision
You just smiled. Like a wall that smile was, sealing you in
And sealing me out. That smile said a lot, Celeste. It said a lot.Still, don’t be thinking I watched the movie for the entire night.
I saved the ending for today so I could pay attention to my brain
In starting the book you suggested I read on the Armenians.
It’s not like I don’t know about them. My father was one,
After all, and held the practice of his own silence dear
Except for the times he would shout, out of the blue,
“We lost everything. Everything.” I do know about
Even if I do have information about these these people, Celeste,
I’m going to finish the book all the same
And ask that Tommy Lee Jones be on
That particular case as well.
January 2004
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