The Color of Time Page #2

"And even then,

how belatedly you open to us

"Even then, with what exuberance

you cross us."

"It was cold,

"but not enough to catch

or clear your breath.

"Uncertain clouds, unemphatic light.

"All that held now was that violated,

looted country,

"the fraying fringes of the town,

"those gutted hills, hills by rote,

"hills by permission,

"great, naked wastes of wrack and spill,

"vivid and disconsolate,

"like genitalia shaved

and disinfected for an operation."

They're Japanese.

You get 40 miles to a gallon.

- No way.

- Yeah way.

- BS. They're lying.

- They're not lying.

- They are lying.

- I'm thinking of buying one.

You're a traitor, then.

Are you from Detroit or not?

You get eight miles

a gallon in your Galaxy.

That's right. That's how it starts.

- What do you mean how it starts?

- That's how the un-American thing starts.

You're unbelievable.

So, what, are you gonna buy a Gremlin?

- A Gremlin's not a bad little car.

- It's a piece of junk.

They're wide. You can put a submarine

sandwich all the way across sideways in it.

Do you live in Detroit, yes or no?

- Yeah, I do.

- Buy an American car.

- God's sake.

- You're unbelievable.

Have you been to Lafayette lately,

Coney Island?

- What about it?

- It sucks.

Why does it suck? I was there last week.

It's cheaper. It's more expensive

and it's worse meat.

How can it be worse meat?

It's already bad meat.

I'm telling you, it's not the same.

I had a horrible heartburn

when I was there.

- And you don't normally?

- No.

From their chilli cheese dog

with fries on the side?

- Been at Woodward lately?

- No.

- South of Davidson?

- No!

- It's all screwed up.

- Really?

They tore it up,

torn up into a million pieces.

- Man. I got to go to Allen Park now.

- You ain't gonna get to Allen Park.

You're gonna have to go

all the way around.

- The gas is $1.20 a gallon.

- You got a customer.

- What can I do for you, sir?

- Just this and a cup of coffee.

- Okay. Cream, sugar?

- No.

That'll be 65 cents.

You guys are the only place

open around here.

I'll be here until the end,

until God tells me to pull the switch.

- I grew up around here.

- Where?

- Birmingham.

- Birmingham. Hoity-toity.

- Hoity-toity.

- Nice.

- Where do you live now?

- Paris. France.

- What the hell do you do there?

- France?

- I'm a writer.

- They speak French there.

- What do you write, French?

- Nah, just poetry.

Poetry. I'm a poet.

But I didn't know it.

But my feet show it.

They sure are long fellows.

- Alright.

- Not bad.

Mom!

You alright? Come on.

Come on in, fellas.

Will you shut that door behind you?

Okay.

So, here we are, men.

This is my humble abode.

My stomping ground, home, you know?

I'll tell you what, I'm really happy

that you guys decided to come along.

- We're excited.

- Yeah.

Do me a favour, man.

Usually we have no smoking in here.

- Can you put that out for me?

- Sorry about that.

Okay.

You fellas make yourself at home. I'll be

right back in just one moment, alright?

- Alright.

- Okay.

Baby, you up?

You been sleeping since I left?

Would you like me

to make you some dinner?

How many?

Two.

Put cheese in my eggs.

Listen, baby, I brought you some water.

It's right there. I'll be right back.

You ready? Hey. Come here. You ready?

$2.

Sit down.

- You ready?

- Yeah.

You don't look like you're ready.

Would you like something to eat?

Oh, no, thank you.

I'm not really hungry.

You're up.

Get off me. Get off me.

F*** this, man.

"A gas station, Route 22.

"I remember exactly... Route 22 curved.

"There was a squat, striped concrete divider

they'd put in after a plague of collisions.

"The gas station...

Texaco, Esso, I don't know."

Charlie.

Come on, man. We gotta go.

Charlie, come on.

You're a f***ing animal, Dan.

Go home.

F***ing...

"Maybe the right words

were there all along.

"Complicity. Wonder.

"How pure we were then.

"Before Rimbaud, before Blake.

"Grace, love.

"Take care of us.

"Please."

Unlock it!

Lift it.

Why did you lock it?

There. Come here, silly!

Well, I want to go for a last time.

No, it's just gonna be

one more time, okay? Gimme a kiss.

- Can I count 'em one more time?

- Gimme a kiss first.

- Love you.

- Love you.

- Can I count to 20 this time?

- No, you cannot count to 20 this time.

"The last party before I left,

I was at loose ends,

"and although

I didn't like admitting it,

"chronically adrift and lonely."

Stop it! Stop right now.

I'll call the police.

"Every misfit in the city,

every freeloader,

"every blown-out druggie

and glazed teenybopper,

"plus the crazies

and no telling who or what else,

"stunned on rotgut wine

or grass or acid.

"They danced mechanically.

"There was something almost

maniacally mindless about it.

"But at the same time, it was like a battle,

that intense, that lunatic.

"And as I hesitate in the doorway,

something made me realise just how much,

"without noticing,

I'd come to be of that,

"to want or need it.

"And I swear I must have swayed."

"It was snowing.

"The city in that holy silence.

"He was making patterns

that I thought at first were circles

"then realised made a figure-8.

"In the morning, nothing.

"Every trace of him effaced,

all the field pure white."

"Maybe one year when the cold came

and I closed my windows,

"I forgot them.

"Everything was complicated now.

So much tension.

"So much bothersome self-consciousness.

"Also, I'd found a girl

to be in love with.

"All we wanted was to live together.

"So we did."

- Hey.

- Hey.

- Come in.

- Thanks.

Mother has baked some streusel cake.

It has cherries in it.

Great.

"So fierce it was,

so strenuous, aggressive.

"My thigh here, my hand here,

lips here, here.

"Hers here and here.

"But never there or there.

"All this while,

nothing would be happening.

"Nothing, that is,

in the way I'd mean it now.

"This is what she wanted somehow.

Only this. Yes. Only this."

Is that a compliment?

I think so.

Baby? You think so?

Did you say you think so?

- There are plenty of people...

- What?

...that would die for that nose.

I come in here to cheer you up...

But there are also plenty

of cartoon characters that...

- ...have that nose.

- No. Stop. Stop.

Stop while you're ahead in that one.

- Your best smile.

- Yeah?

That's cool.

But the people

that were voting were blind?

"'On Learning of a Friend's Illness',

for James Wright.

"The morning is so grey

that the grass is grey.

"And the side of the white horse grazing

"is as grey and hard

as the harsh, insistent wind

"gnawing the iron surface of the river."

- Hey.

- Hey.

- I thought you forgot about me.

- Sorry, man, I lost track of time.

Look at you.

What's with the farmer's outfit?

Hey.

- How was the trip?

- Easy. Quick.

- What?

- No. I'm just glad to see you.

Me too. Come on. It's just up the road.

Alright.

How long are you gonna be here for?

I don't know.

Taking my time and...

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