Frets and Struts Frets and Struts | Page 46

WALKING WITH THE POET TED MACKER I’d walk now and then with my young poet friend. We’d amble over to State Street, down to the ocean, once saw a shoeless, shirtless guy handcuffed, four police to this one shoeless guy, public profanity the charge. Often in Ted’s poems he’s awed by girls, and when we take our walks maybe out along State Street Pier, the girls show up, some display piercings, midriffs bared, tattoos. Often these girls smile at Ted, he’s a handsome guy. We’ll be chatting, say, about Louis-Ferdinand Celine when whoa, like a pointer-dog Ted stops and POINTS: a sighting: my God, there she is, magnificent She. We’re astonished. Then we move on. 34