Brooklyn Cop - Norman MacCaig Flashcards
1
Q
Start
A
Built like a gorilla but less timid,
thick-fleshed, steak-coloured, with two
hieroglyphs in his face that mean
trouble, he walks the sidewalk and the
thin tissue over violence.
2
Q
tissue over violence. …
A
This morning,
when he said, ‘See you, babe’ to his wife,
he hoped it, he truly hoped it.
3
Q
he truly hoped it. …
A
He is a gorilla
to whom ‘Hiya, honey’ is no cliché.
4
Q
no cliché. …
A
Should the tissue tear, should he plunge through
into violence, what clubbings, what
gunshots between Phoebe’s Whamburger
and Louie’s Place.
5
Q
Louie’s place. …
A
Who would be him, gorilla with a nightstick,
whose home is a place
he might, this time, never get back to?
6
Q
get back to? …
A
And who would be who have to be
his victims?
