H
e a r t S o n s & H e a r t D a u g h t e r s of A l l e n G i n s
b e r g
N
a p a l m H e a l t h S p a : R e p o r t 2 0 1 4 : A r c h i
v e s E d i t i o n
RICHARD WILMARTH
When Does The
Sentence Really End
johansen wanted cigarettes
so
I gave him the change I had
actually
more than he needed
then
he proceeded to tell me
that
although he lived on the street
he
was an intelligent man
and
had a degree from berkeley
and
all of the time that he spoke
i looked straight into his blue
eyes
until
he noticed my notebook
and
my chickenscratch handwriting
which
he said was very unique
but
his was more interesting
so
he showed me by writing down
the
name of the supreme court case
“gideon vs. wainwright” in
my
notebook using my grey pen
then
i asked him about the case
and
he said that it had to do with
“the
competent and effective
assistance
of counsel” and then
he
told me that he killed a man
and
that he was from virginia
and
his wife married a preacher
and
i looked into his blue eyes
knowing
that i somehow liked him
and
the way he told his story
about
how his wife got the home
and
how he received the big house
like
ten years in the state prison
then
the conversation turned to
“the
writ of habeas corpus”
and
how lincoln suspended it
during
the war between the states
but
how now it’s in full effect
and
they can’t lock you up without
bringing
your body into court
to
charge your ass with an offense
misdemeanor
or felony
and
johansen meant what he said
about
the mistakes that he made
and
he considered getting caught
and
losing his wife the biggest
but
was more on his mind was
cigarettes
and why the police
stopped
their cruiser and fingered him
and
told him to get down the street
while
he was sharing my table
on
a morning we were supposed
to
be free in america
[Originally, this poem
appeared in the author’s 1995 MFA thesis from Naropa University. Used by permission of the overseer of the
author’s papers at the University of Rhode Island. Originally published in NHS 2013, http://www.poetspath.com/napalm/_special_edition_nhs_2013/.]