How Soon Is Now?
Christmas
somewhere in Dixie
a young mother
nurses her baby
listening to anything
but The Smiths
while geeks
try to figure out
her name
her location
Students shot
the footage
yet the
red hat
that red
sweater
her face
the light
in the black
and white darkness
of smokestacks
and bridges
a thirst trap
for geeks
and poetry
April in Paris
flowers
live up to their names
along the dusty
boulevard
Notre Dame
at half-mast
gleaming
river lights
Tuileries
il pleut des cordes
nuns
and goths
striped tights
and Docs
buskers
hawking
mini
Eiffel Towers
The guy with the pistol
at the front of the armed men–
I’ve hated him for years
because I believed
that he shouted “Fire”
at the top of Blanket Hill.
All this time I knew
he had to be the one.
CIA? FBI?
A guy on a mission.
There should be
a new trial.
And now
50+ years later
I read that there is
another.
A student photographer
carried a pistol
at the protest
because
terrified of
Hippies
he waved the gun
to threaten
then fired
his pistol
four times
into the Ohio sky.
Bullets don’t
disintegrate
in thin air
folks.
New Orleans
natives
can tell you
stories.
They arc
on a path
back to the
ground
and any
living thing
in their way
will get shot.
But I digress.
This bastard,
Terry Norman,
by shooting
into the sky,
freaked out
the newborn
National Guard
troopers
who began
to fire
their M-1 rifles
at an imaginary sniper.
60+ rounds
in 13 seconds.
4 dead in Ohio.
Terry Norman,
is the reason why
there should be
a new trial.
So, what became
of this mystery man
after he surrendered
his pistol
and the Guard officers
looked the other way?
The FBI hired him
as a Narc
three months later
in Washington, D.C.
He later moved to Cali
where he flashed money.
Went to prison
for 3 years
in the 1990s
for fraud.
Maybe his guilty
conscience
catching up?
Or Karma?
Now the Bastard lives
in the Carolina mountains.
There should
be a new trial.
It’s never too late
for justice.
https://www.library.kent.edu/special-collections-and-archives/kenfour-notes-investigation
Richard Peabody has spent the majority of his life in the DMV. He wears many literary hats– poet, author, literary editor, publisher, teacher, mentor. The author of a novella and three short story collections, he taught graduate fiction writing at Johns Hopkins University for 17 years. His Gargoyle Magazine/Paycock Press was founded in 1976. His most recent poetry volume, Guinness on the Quay, was published in Ireland (Salmon Poetry, 2019). The Richard Peabody Reader, a career-encompassing collection, was released in 2015 by Alan Squire Publishing, as the first book in their ASP Legacy Series.
Featured image in this post is, “Administration building and auditorium, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio (65041)” by Boston Public Library, licensed via creative commons 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
