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Jacket 15 — December 2001   |   # 15  Contents   |   Homepage   |   Catalog   |




Mark Mahemoff

Grand Jury Testimony


There was quite an extended one in the beginning,
and everybody was entering into it.
Did you understand, do you understand
the words there in that phrase?
For example, kissing is not covered by that,
I don’t think.
When I read it, I thought it was rather
a strange definition
so, I took it.
And they convinced the Judge,
because she gave them strict orders
not to leak.
I’ve been subject to quite a lot of illegal leaking.
Maybe they thought I’d settle.
Now, I’m trying to be honest with you,
and it hurts me.
And so they just thought they would
take a wrecking ball to me
and see if they could do some damage.
One night she brought me some pizza.
That is correct. They were Christmas gifts
and they were going-away gifts.
She was moving to New York to,
taking a new job, starting a new life.
Did you also give her a marble bear’s head carving
from Vancouver, Canada?
And you also gave her a Rockettes blanket.
I didn’t remember the cherry chocolates.
How about a pin of the New York skyline?
What about a pair of joke sunglasses?
I remembered very clearly what the facts were
about The Black Dog.
I was downloading what I remembered.
No, I do have a good memory.
At least I’ve had a good memory in my life.
And now you seem to be complaining
that I didn’t do a good enough job.
I deplored the innocent people
they were tormenting and traumatizing.
I deplored their illegal leaking.
So, let me say something sympathetic.
All of you are intelligent people.
I didn’t say they were evil.
I said what they were doing here was wrong,
and it was.
And then, as I remember, I went to Bosnia
and for some reason she wasn’t there
around Christmas time.
Let me see if I can jog your memory further.
Well, it depends how you define alone.
But there were also a lot of times when,
even though no one could see us,
the doors were open to the halls,
on both ends of the halls,
people could hear.
The Navy Stewards could come in and out at will,
if they were around.
This, this night has become legendary now, you know.






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