Paterson Page #3

He was a weaver.

An anarchist weaver.

This was in the 1890's... and at

that time in Italy people were starving.

When they demonstrated this Italian general had them

fire upon with like muskets and cannons which...

of course, resulted in a bloody massacre,

with like 100 people dead.

Was Gaetano Bresci there?

No, he was here in Paterson, but when he

heard the king of Italy...

King Umberto the first decorated this f***ing

general for bravely defending his royal house...

so Gaetano Bresci went over to Italy somehow and

he shot Umberto I, four times with a revolver.

- Whoa! Did they kill Bresci?

- No. They captured him and put him on trial...

like famous anarchist's lawyer and everything,

but since there was no Capital Punishment in Italy...

at that time... like... 1900...

I mean... nor is there now...

You can't be a member of the European Union

if you practice Capital Punishment, of course.

They are not like here.

Yah.

Anyway... they sent Gaetano Bresci to like this

prison island where they put all the other anarchists and...

after like a year he was found dead in his prison cell.

Murdered?

Well, yeah. Most likely by the guards,

but...

there's a possibility he committed suicide.

Gaetano Bresci...

Do you think there are any other anarchists

still around in Paterson?

You mean besides us?

Not likely.

What time is your first class?

- It's at 10:
00.

- Wanna grab a coffee?

Sure!

It's all warmed up for ya Donny.

All used up is more like it.

You okay?

Well, since you asked... no,

not really.

My mother-in-law's moving in...

My cat got diagnosed with cat diabetes and,

the medicine you know... it's also expensive

and now my daughter started taking violin lessons...

and I'm losing my mind with the sound of that.

What can I say Paterson?

Ya know, sorry.

Well, it's just my burden I guess,

my particular burden.

K.

Well, see ya tomorrow.

Excuse me...

Are you okay here all alone?

I'm fine. I'm just waiting here

for my mom and sister...

she's upstairs in that building over there.

Do you mind if I sit down until

your mom comes down?

Sure.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

- Are you a bus driver?

- Yeah.

Do you ever drive one of those...

accordion buses?

"Articulated."

Articulated.

Well, accordion.

No, I just drive the regular one.

Did you ever drive a fire truck?

No. Just uh... buses and cars...

and drove a big truck a few times.

But uh... that's it.

Are you... uh, interested in poetry?

Actually I am kind of.

- Really?

- Yeah.

I write poetry.

I keep it all in this notebook.

Secret notebook.

Oh, you're a poet.

- Yeah.

- That's great.

Would you like to hear one?

Sure, sure.

It doesn't really rhyme though.

That's okay. I kinda like 'em

better when they don't.

Yeah, me too.

Okay...

This one's called, "Water Falls".

Two words though.

"Water... Falls...", okay.

Okay.

"Water Falls."

Water falls from the bright air.

It falls like hair.

Falling across a young girl's shoulders.

Water falls.

Making pools in the asphalt.

Dirty mirrors with clouds and buildings inside.

It falls on the roof of my house,

it falls on my mother, and on my hair.

Most people call it rain.

That's a beautiful poem.

You really liked it.

Yeah, I really do. I think it's beautiful.

Water Falls...

Thank you.

It doesn't rhyme exactly.

No, but the first two lines do.

In a nice way. And some nice

little internal rhymes too I think.

Kinda rhymes.

Oh, my mom's done.

That's my sister. We're twins.

It was nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too!

Nice to meet a... real poet!

Do you like Emily Dickenson?

I do, yeah.

She's one of my favorites.

Awesome.

Bus driver that likes Emily Dickenson...

Water falls, from the bright air.

Falls like hair.

Falling across a young girl's shoulders.

I'm so excited to see what you think.

Some fresh Basil.

I grow it myself on the windowsill.

We're having pie for dinner?

Yeah, but a dinner pie.

Oh.

What do you think is inside?

Uh... inside the secret pie?

Uh, I dunno...

fish.

No. Not fish silly.

Want me to tell you?

- Uh... yes please.

- Okay.

Cheddar cheese and Brussels sprouts.

Seriously?

Yeah! Baked into a pie.

Doesn't it sound delicious?

You love Brussels sprouts and

you love Tuna cheese.

I do, yeah.

No, it sounds very original.

Is that a new recipe you found?

No, I made it up.

A secret pie.

I made a small one for Marvin.

He really seemed to like it.

Mmm... hmm...

Secret pie.

Honey I'm glad you like it.

Speaking of secret pie, I wanted to tell you

something about your secret notebook.

What?

Did you ever hear of the old Italian poet,

Petrarch? Is that it?

Petrarch.

He perfected the sonet.

I read online that one of his early books

of poems was called, "The Secret Book".

Just like yours.

I didn't know that.

You read that?

You just happened

upon it online?

And also that he wrote all his love poems

to a beautiful girl called, ta dah... Laura.

That's true.

So you have many things in common with

other great and famous poets. You see?

Do you not like it there?

It's the waterfall.

It's your favorite place.

I'm not sure.

Oh yeah, it's nice there.

So remember you promised to finally

make copies of your poems this weekend.

I will, as soon as I have some free time.

You promised.

This weekend.

I will. No.

I promised.

So why don't you recite me something...

just a few of the lines maybe from a love poem.

Well, I... I can give you a

few lines that I didn't write.

Are they by your hero,

Carlo William Carlos?

William Carlos Williams.

I know darling, I was teasing.

No, it's a poem by a girl I met.

A girl you met?

Yeah, no. Like a little girl I met.

Like a 10 year old girl.

She was on the bus?

No. I met her on my way home

from work near the old factories.

She was waiting for her mom

and her sister...

and I noticed she had a notebook

of poems and she read one to me.

From her own secret notebook?

Yeah, exactly.

The picture of the falls

make me think of it.

Just remember how it started.

Water falls from the bright air.

Falls like hair.

Falling across a young girl's shoulders.

Nice.

Almost like one of yours.

Did she have long hair?

No, she did. Yeah.

Laura, what's all that flour and stuff for?

For my cupcakes, remember?

Saturday's my turn at the baking

booth in the farmer's market.

I remembered this morning but now

my god, it's the day after tomorrow.

I have so many cupcakes to make.

Oh my.

You don't like your pie?

No, I do.

Our own Romeo and Juliet.

Or maybe more like Anthony and Cleopatra.

Speaking of Romeo and Juliet...

Abbott and Costello.

No, Lou Costello has got to be the most

famous person from Paterson.

Yeah, probably. I mean, yeah.

He...

He's got that statue and he's got his own park.

Right. I mean Alexander Hamilton's

got a statue. Others got statues.

But not they own park.

Hell even (Phinney Whop?) don't have no park.

Yeah ol' Lou Costello.

I wonder where Bud Abbott was born...

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