:24:03
There was a girl
in the car with him,
:24:05
and Thomas went off
the road,
:24:07
caught his rear wheel
in a ditch and flipped over.
:24:09
She died.
They were 17.
:24:15
Was he drunk?
:24:18
Yes.
:24:20
So the poems were about her...
"The Magdalene Poems"?
:24:29
An examination...
:24:32
of a 17-year-old girl
:24:35
in the last four seconds
of her life.
:24:39
"To separate from life,
:24:43
From tantalizing mysteries
and salt spray...
:24:48
from grave gypsy eyes
:24:51
and the sacred poignant flesh
of long-limbed dancers.
:25:01
A cross...
:25:16
A cross, my shield
on the altar of her neck."
:25:29
But her name wasn't Magdalene.
It was Linda.
:25:33
Hmm, Linda.
:25:38
And he loved her?
:25:40
Very much.
:25:41
I don't think he's
ever gotten over it.
:25:44
In a way, all the poems
are about the accident
:25:47
even when they
don't seem to be.
:25:48
But he married you.
:25:50
Well, Linda was dead,
you see?
:25:55
And I hadn't the faintest idea
who Thomas was.