February 1992
Prisons
Listening to the scamper of steps, the same question every fifteen seconds, the laughter of the guards
Sunbeams
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
The Witness Tree: Memoir Of A Ritual
It is a terrible thing when a brave person becomes afraid of you. It wakes you up. You see that, in Hemingway’s great phrase, you have “gone beyond where you can go.” It is unlikely you can save yourself, and unlikely that any one person — lover, therapist, friend — can save you.
The Prison Experience
The statements accompanying the photographs arose in response to a single question Camhi put to prisoners: “What do you want people to know about the prison experience?”
Inside
The men here carry their personal space like body armor. They have been taught the gospel of toughness since they were young. They think it is necessary for survival to wear your strength on the outside.
Small Victory
I crashed my bike once. I bought an R75/5 — my first BMW. I was told I had to earn it. I didn’t quite understand at the time.
Home Alone
If we were in bed, I’d want to make love. If we were talking, I’d want her undivided attention. Am I ever satisfied? What if she were ill? I’d be thankful she was breathing. I’d be thankful for her life.
Italian Supper
A woman prays her husband will never stop looking when she undresses. We’ve come so much further than that. Chuck doesn’t notice me at all.
What Marvin Knows
Marvin had been watching the car, a red Ford Escort, drive by his house for perhaps twenty minutes. It was driven by a young fellow, probably one of the local college students.
The Prophet Explains Religion
OK so he don’t look like a prophet but he’s / A real smart old guy. Got a place / Over a Chinese restaurant on Broadway / & you got something you want to ask / Just take him some chateau la hooch & go up the back way. / Says PROPHET IS IN on the door.
Bedrock Mortar Full Moon Illumination
Seeing the reflection of the full moon / in the rainfilled bedrock mortar holes / where earliest California Indians / ground acorns with circular grinding stones / And sensing how the full moon / is like a mortar stone in the sky
