A different Leonard
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:23 pm
It was a long time ago, I had a friend named Leonard who I had very high
regard for. Leonard was very serious and he seemed to feel that the
world was trying it's best to take away his seriousness away and so he
went to great efforts to protect it. To that end he used his art and he
would spend a lot of time drawing pictures of very serious subjects. An
example of that were his drawings of soldiers being killed in wars and
his pictures would be very detailed of soldiers getting hit by bullets
and shrapnel and the focus would be on the wounds and blood and the pain
in the eyes of the soldiers. He made war look like a very serious issue.
It's a long story of all the things that he did in order to keep his
serious nature in tact but one day it got to the point that he wanted to
have a gun in his possession to be able to remind himself daily of how
real guns are. There are complications to buying guns which he wanted
to avoid and so he set about stealing one.
He made a hole in the roof of a sporting goods store and got into the
store which set off a silent alarm and in moments the police arrived and
found him making his way through the store. After putting him in cuffs
they got around to asking him what he was doing in the store. That
question was the beginning of a lot of trouble for leonard. Although he
was willing to steal, one thing that Leonard was never willing to do was
lie and so he told the policeman that he was there to steal a gun. Then
they asked him if he was going to shoot anyone with it. It was a
question that he had never asked himself and so he had to search his
heart on the spot, which he did, and that led him to tell the police "I
might"
All this led to the day in question which was the day that Leonard was
to appear in court and I sat in the courtroom to see what would happen.
I'm sure that somewhere along the line someone had determined that
Leonard was so unlike the other criminals that get processed through the
system that the prosecutor came with, along with the other evidence, a
doctor to deliver a psychiatric assessment of Leonard.
As I watched in the gallery to learn what was to be Leonard's fate I was
becoming very encouraged by how lenient the judge appeared to be. One by
one people who appeared to be the most nasty hardened criminals were
getting off with a slap on the wrist and being told to behave from now
on. I mean these were mean, ugly, nasty people with tattoos on their
arms and leather jackets and snarls permanently etched on their faces.
Then it was Leonard's turn and he seemed so clear eyed and presentable
with his studious look and his cardigan sweater. I could tell that the
judge liked him as well and that he appreciated how clear and articulate
Leonard was in answering his questions and how sincere Leonard seemed.
Then it was the doctor's turn and most of that sounded so encouraging.
The doctor began by describing how much he enjoyed his conversation with
Leonard. He said that Leonard was very highly moral and that he had a
very deep relationship with the Judeo-Christian tradition, and not just
a mere religiosity. He said that Leonard's philosophy was very similar
to the Greek philosopher Cato, whom Leonard was somewhat familiar with.
Then he said that in all his years of practice that he had never met
anyone so determined to tell the truth, no matter how awkward,
embarrassing or detrimental to himself it might be to do so. He then
concluded that it was this unwillingness to tell lies which led the
doctor to believe that he didn't think that Leonard should be released
from custody. The judge then sentenced Leonard to three years in an
institution for the criminally insane.
They took leonard away and I was left feeling very troubled and confused.
I went into the nearest bar to sit and mull over what I had just
witnessed. It wasn't a very respectable part of town and it was a go-go
bar where strippers danced even so early in the day as it was. I was
drinking a couple of those good Canadian beer and being lost in thought,
wasn't paying any attention to the gal dancing, until I heard her
talking to me from her place on the stage. The bar was near empty and
she needed someone to put some money in the jukebox so she could
continue her show. She didn't have any money with her on the stage and
so she was asking me. I did as she requested and put some money in ,
pressing the numbers she instructed. Going back to my seat I passed the
stage and turned to look at her, which I did closely for probably the
first time and found myself astounded which caused me to think out loud
to her and I said "You're really pretty"
Then I went back to my beer and thoughts. After her set she came over to
my table and asked me if I would be willing to return later when she got
off work and go somewhere as she felt that she wanted to talk with me. I
did return and we went to a park and eventually became friends for a
short period of time. All the events of the day seemed to be related to
each other in ways that I feel I will never understand. To lend a sense
to how unusual it was to have this very pretty woman come over to my
table without any clothes on asking me to spend some time with her maybe
I should point out that this was during a period of my life when I was
being intentionally celibate. (As opposed to these days when it is not
so intentional)
But for anyone who has read this far I am sure you are mostly wondering
whatever became of Leonard. I stayed in touch with him and visited on a
regular basis with him in the institution. They let him out a little
early and he came and stayed with me in an apartment that I had during
the winter of his release. When summer came I got him to come with me
to work with a traveling carnival in the Canadian North. He contrasted
sharply with the rest of us carneys but it didn't take too long for
everyone working with us to come to like him and he even came to
participate sometimes in our wild crazy ways. The work and lifestyle
was a little hard on him and he eventually wandered away before the
season ended. He kept in touch with letters and we met again when I
returned to the city. I went to visit him.
He was living in a cheap motel with a lady. She looked to me to be a
little jaded with her tattoos, leather jacket and weathered face but she
did look kind and Leonard told me that he loved her and intended to
marry her. He said that they were spending a lot of time smoking pot and
fucking and that he was really enjoying it and was very happy. That was
the last time I ever saw him. All this reminds me of what a wise
someone once posted to this newsgroup. "Life's a bitch, definitely, but
she does improve, as it were, with the fucking of the days".
Jack
" There's a long time, blonde haired
stripper on the stage
and she winds back the clock
and turns back the page
of a book that nobody can write
I sat in my place and I watched her undrape
well I won't, but then maybe again I might
Oh, where are you tonight"
--b. dylan
regard for. Leonard was very serious and he seemed to feel that the
world was trying it's best to take away his seriousness away and so he
went to great efforts to protect it. To that end he used his art and he
would spend a lot of time drawing pictures of very serious subjects. An
example of that were his drawings of soldiers being killed in wars and
his pictures would be very detailed of soldiers getting hit by bullets
and shrapnel and the focus would be on the wounds and blood and the pain
in the eyes of the soldiers. He made war look like a very serious issue.
It's a long story of all the things that he did in order to keep his
serious nature in tact but one day it got to the point that he wanted to
have a gun in his possession to be able to remind himself daily of how
real guns are. There are complications to buying guns which he wanted
to avoid and so he set about stealing one.
He made a hole in the roof of a sporting goods store and got into the
store which set off a silent alarm and in moments the police arrived and
found him making his way through the store. After putting him in cuffs
they got around to asking him what he was doing in the store. That
question was the beginning of a lot of trouble for leonard. Although he
was willing to steal, one thing that Leonard was never willing to do was
lie and so he told the policeman that he was there to steal a gun. Then
they asked him if he was going to shoot anyone with it. It was a
question that he had never asked himself and so he had to search his
heart on the spot, which he did, and that led him to tell the police "I
might"
All this led to the day in question which was the day that Leonard was
to appear in court and I sat in the courtroom to see what would happen.
I'm sure that somewhere along the line someone had determined that
Leonard was so unlike the other criminals that get processed through the
system that the prosecutor came with, along with the other evidence, a
doctor to deliver a psychiatric assessment of Leonard.
As I watched in the gallery to learn what was to be Leonard's fate I was
becoming very encouraged by how lenient the judge appeared to be. One by
one people who appeared to be the most nasty hardened criminals were
getting off with a slap on the wrist and being told to behave from now
on. I mean these were mean, ugly, nasty people with tattoos on their
arms and leather jackets and snarls permanently etched on their faces.
Then it was Leonard's turn and he seemed so clear eyed and presentable
with his studious look and his cardigan sweater. I could tell that the
judge liked him as well and that he appreciated how clear and articulate
Leonard was in answering his questions and how sincere Leonard seemed.
Then it was the doctor's turn and most of that sounded so encouraging.
The doctor began by describing how much he enjoyed his conversation with
Leonard. He said that Leonard was very highly moral and that he had a
very deep relationship with the Judeo-Christian tradition, and not just
a mere religiosity. He said that Leonard's philosophy was very similar
to the Greek philosopher Cato, whom Leonard was somewhat familiar with.
Then he said that in all his years of practice that he had never met
anyone so determined to tell the truth, no matter how awkward,
embarrassing or detrimental to himself it might be to do so. He then
concluded that it was this unwillingness to tell lies which led the
doctor to believe that he didn't think that Leonard should be released
from custody. The judge then sentenced Leonard to three years in an
institution for the criminally insane.
They took leonard away and I was left feeling very troubled and confused.
I went into the nearest bar to sit and mull over what I had just
witnessed. It wasn't a very respectable part of town and it was a go-go
bar where strippers danced even so early in the day as it was. I was
drinking a couple of those good Canadian beer and being lost in thought,
wasn't paying any attention to the gal dancing, until I heard her
talking to me from her place on the stage. The bar was near empty and
she needed someone to put some money in the jukebox so she could
continue her show. She didn't have any money with her on the stage and
so she was asking me. I did as she requested and put some money in ,
pressing the numbers she instructed. Going back to my seat I passed the
stage and turned to look at her, which I did closely for probably the
first time and found myself astounded which caused me to think out loud
to her and I said "You're really pretty"
Then I went back to my beer and thoughts. After her set she came over to
my table and asked me if I would be willing to return later when she got
off work and go somewhere as she felt that she wanted to talk with me. I
did return and we went to a park and eventually became friends for a
short period of time. All the events of the day seemed to be related to
each other in ways that I feel I will never understand. To lend a sense
to how unusual it was to have this very pretty woman come over to my
table without any clothes on asking me to spend some time with her maybe
I should point out that this was during a period of my life when I was
being intentionally celibate. (As opposed to these days when it is not
so intentional)
But for anyone who has read this far I am sure you are mostly wondering
whatever became of Leonard. I stayed in touch with him and visited on a
regular basis with him in the institution. They let him out a little
early and he came and stayed with me in an apartment that I had during
the winter of his release. When summer came I got him to come with me
to work with a traveling carnival in the Canadian North. He contrasted
sharply with the rest of us carneys but it didn't take too long for
everyone working with us to come to like him and he even came to
participate sometimes in our wild crazy ways. The work and lifestyle
was a little hard on him and he eventually wandered away before the
season ended. He kept in touch with letters and we met again when I
returned to the city. I went to visit him.
He was living in a cheap motel with a lady. She looked to me to be a
little jaded with her tattoos, leather jacket and weathered face but she
did look kind and Leonard told me that he loved her and intended to
marry her. He said that they were spending a lot of time smoking pot and
fucking and that he was really enjoying it and was very happy. That was
the last time I ever saw him. All this reminds me of what a wise
someone once posted to this newsgroup. "Life's a bitch, definitely, but
she does improve, as it were, with the fucking of the days".
Jack
" There's a long time, blonde haired
stripper on the stage
and she winds back the clock
and turns back the page
of a book that nobody can write
I sat in my place and I watched her undrape
well I won't, but then maybe again I might
Oh, where are you tonight"
--b. dylan