Original subtitles

Oh.

Molly, you're gonna freeze out here.

I like the cold.

Did you see that kid?

What kid?

He's been waiting for you.

Like a prom date.

Can I help you?

You're Ed Saxberger.

What is this about?

My name is Wilson Myers.

Myers, everyone calls me.

Okay. I apologize for showing up like this, but I discovered that you lived

here in my neighborhood.

Okay, and?

I read Way Past Go.

You are the Ed Saxberger, right? The poet?

Of course you are. I recognize you from the back cover.

You read Way Past Go? That's crazy.

Where'd you find a copy?

I bought it at Foyles on Charing Cross Road.

And then I read it at a pub in Covent Garden straight through.

It's brilliant.

We all think so. My whole group.

Your group?

We're, um, an artistic community of poets and artists, essayists,

intellectuals. That sounds pretentious. Is this some kind of joke?

Did Pauli pull you up to it? No, I'm dead serious.

I don't know when you last read the book yourself, but it's as if the poems were

written yesterday.

They're modern. They're moving.

They're scathing. They just slap you across the face with their style and

their relevancy. They're timeless.

Wow.

That was a long time ago.

October 1979.

You were younger than I am now when you wrote it.

That's very impressive.

I don't want to be presumptuous in any way, but could we take you out to dinner

sometime? My friends and I, as an act of... I don't know.

Inspirationally motivated gratitude.

No, inspirationally motivated.

I'm not speaking coherently, but... I completely understand.

I...

What I mean to say is my friends and I, dinner with us, you have much more

important matters to attend to. I've taken up enough of your time already.

I'm sorry. It's okay.

Stopped writing poetry?

Years ago.

I worked at the post office for years now.

So? A man of letters.

I guess you could say that.

Well, you wrote a masterpiece, whether people know about it or not.

Nothing can alter that. That's forever.

Thank you.

That's nice to hear.

What can I tell my friends?

Tell them I'm very touched.

And I don't know.

Give them my best regards.

We're always at any old place on LaGuardia.

If it ever feels enticing.

Okay. Maybe sometime.

Okay. Fantastic.

So?

So what? I wish I had a secret admirer.

Eat your heart off.

Oh, so close.

Well.

Late for you.

Yeah, you know.

I got your number seven already. Good, thanks.

Hey. Hey.

What's new?

Oh, nothing.

I just took Mikey for 40 bucks tonight. He won't quit. Now you can retire.

Hey,

Mikey. Hey, brother, how you doing?

Hi,

we're back at the hospital.

Again, it's almost midnight.

Seems like things have really taken a turn this time.

He was asking about you before.

He thinks you're here or that you're coming.

Doctor's coming out now. I gotta go. You really need to call me back, okay?

He's your brother, too.

Sexburger!

Just my luck.

Where are you headed this evening?

I'm out for a walk.

May I join you?

Yeah, sure.

How's your weekend?

Good. You?

I'm sure I sound overeager, and that's embarrassing, but the truth is, I've

been feeling very inspired since we spoke.

Yeah? And it's had a really energetic effect on our group.

I've even started writing a new poem.

an epic about Alexander the Great and the Oracle of the Amun-Ra, of all

things. There you go. It sounds ridiculous, but it occurred to me that

evening after we met, and it just seems to be able to contain all the things

that I've been thinking about, you know, divinity, this impossible journey, you

know, mortality, immortality.

I haven't finished it, of course.

I'm just going to kind of let it be, wait for it to kind of ferment in my

mind like a fine must.

Yeah, I head this way. Would you ever consider reading my work?

I don't know.

It would be such an honor.

Sorry if I overstepped.

Overeager.

No, I'm happy to look at him.

But don't expect much.

Oh my God, really?

Thank you, Saxfurger. Call me Ed.

In our group, we call everyone by their last names. Sort of a thing we decided

on. Where are you from?

Why do you ask?

Just curious.

You have a very formal way of talking.

I find there's too much humming and like, sort of, you know, in the world.

You know?

Sort of.

You know, I was just about to meet up with my friends, the group.

Would you like to join me?

Yeah.

It's kind of late.

I understand. It's just... You have no idea how much talk there's been about

you at our table.

Love is bliss.

It used to be called something else.

Here they are.

This is Carmichael, playwright.

Hi. This is Scherfie, a kind of experimental writer.

Broussard, who's a critic.

Essayist. Yes, essayist. Hello. And this is Wynne, who writes... Everything.

Everything. Yeah.

It's nice meeting you fellas. You too.

This is Saxberger.

Oh my god, it's Saxberger. Wow.

What an honor to meet you.

How's it going?

It's me.

Listen,

I'm really touched by your interest.

You work in the post office, right? Yeah. Like Bukowski?

I guess. It's pretty astonishing you've...

been lost for so many years sorry my mom's gonna pick me up soon i just

wanted to ask you if you could sum up your like your like career touchstones

and what that would amount to you know i'm i don't know how to do that who

would you say your contemporaries who was a part of your circle well i didn't

really have a circle per se i mean i knew some of the older guys like um

Robert Creeley, you know him, right?

And... Fuck... Who else?

Amiri Baraka.

Ed Dorn.

Nice.

I met Burroughs a few times. So iconic.

It must just be so satisfying to have published poetry like yours.

Satisfying? In the sense of being, like, sticking to your own...

Authenticity. Unlike those bullshit posers over there.

Who are they? Fucking influencers.

You got your standard influencer, a cultural critic, which is really just

another way of saying influencer.

You have your experiential creator, which is who the fuck knows.

And somebody's girlfriend, who's really just an aspiring influencer, if such a

thing can even be imagined.

To our knowledge, they don't talk. They only communicate through sociopath

media. They're addicts.

We reject technology as much as we can. You know, we've all seen firsthand the

way that it rots the brain.

Well, you won't get an argument from me. At least people know who they are.

Well, no one with any real depth knows who they are. Saxberger doesn't know who

they are. Still, people know that more than they know us.

Do you have a name for your group?

I guess bullshit.

Paul Sears has already taken.

The Enthusiasm Society.

What do you think?

Not bad.

Sounds Victorian.

Sketchy, mocking, tongue-in-cheek. It's got it all. It says we're standing up

against negativity, vulgarization, the monetization of everything, the

coarsening of culture, you know?

I'm glad someone's doing it.

We need to find a new way of getting ourselves out there. We need to find a

way of announcing ourselves to the world.

That's what we've been talking about.

Well, people, you know, used to do readings.

I guess they still do.

Just rent a space and invite people.

Readings?

Yeah. You know, a kind of formal...

introduction to our work and our collective point of view.

How do we distinguish it from all the other bullshit?

It's got to be rooted in something real. We have to bring literature back to the

people. Think of it as a kind of a sincerely ironic throwback. We do it in

a place where it would have been done back in Saxberger's day. We ban phones.

We hire a real photographer to document it with a film camera.

We pass around a hat.

Pass for donations.

What do you think, Saxberger?

Sounds good.

Okay So

a

weird question, how did you like hanging out with us?

I'm sorry awkward question.

I liked it very much What do you think of our group?

What do you mean? Do you think we seem?

Impressive. Oh, sure.

There were some key figures missing tonight. You'll have to meet them, too,

especially Gloria.

I wondered if there were some girls in your group.

Oh, yes.

She's an actress, truly larger than life.

She's older than us, but... When you meet her, you'll see what I mean.

Thank you very much.

It was fun.

Saxberger.

I've been trying to work up the courage to ask you this since we left.

Would you ever consider allowing us to use something of yours in the event?

Fine.

You don't need that. You have your own room.

Not like yours.

Okay. I'll figure something out. Thank you so, so much.

All right.

Good night. Good night. Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hey, Saxberger!

Saxberger! What a pleasure to see you again. I was in the neighborhood.

I thought I'd drop by. Make some room for Saxberger. Thanks.

We're just going over the structure of our event.

Should it be called What We Want or What It Is?

Perfect.

What about you, Saxberger?

I still have to see what there is.

I had a thought.

Please hear me out.

What about something new?

Just imagine how exciting it would be for the audience if you were to write

something new.

But nobody knows my work. It's all new to them.

You know, I haven't written poetry.

I don't even remember it's been that long.

All the better.

I had my moment. It ended.

So, now it's your time.

This would be your new moment.

The return.

Look, the people out there, they don't understand anything.

They just consume what's given to them.

That's why you're one of us.

Just consider it.

Please. My boy!

Gloria!

How's it going, kids?

Oh, I've missed you.

This is Saxberger.

Hello. Hello there. Gloria Gardner. Pleasure.

So, are you an artist too?

Gloria, this is Saxberger.

Who wrote Way Past Goal.

Of course, this is exactly how you would look.

It's an honor to meet you, Mr.

Saxberger. Thank you.

Saxberger here has agreed to take part in our recital. Reading. I just got

chill. What are you drinking?

You decide.

Darling. Just help the man out. Do you want a slow gin fizz?

Do you want a chai latte?

For the love of God, not a chai latte.

How about an absinthe?

Yes, an absinthe! I'll have a black coffee, thanks. How's the play going,

Gloria? There's never enough financing.

One of our key castmates just dropped out to do an episode of some police

procedural on network television.

It's obscene!

I promise I'll let you kids know when we're back on our feet. We'll all be on

pins and needles.

Anyway, I want to hear more about your reading.

Actually, it's an event, right?

Well, Saxberger's giving some serious thought to writing something new.

Thinking about it.

And?

Well... Sure, why not?

Can I perform it? Unless you're planning on reading it yourself.

You know, I haven't even started. There's not even a word yet. If I don't

do your poem at this reading recital, whatever, I will die.

Well, in that case, my dear, you can read it.

Wonderful. This is going to be great, I think. Let's go get some dinner. We've

got a lot to discuss.

You'll come with us, right, Saxberger? Yeah.

Thanks, Bert.

Thanks.

Or sit at the opposite side of the table. That's fine too.

No matter what you do, don't eat anything down here. Only there, there,

there, and on the back.

So did you know Ginsburg?

No, by the time I got to the city, he was pretty cranky. I did go to a few of

his readings, and a friend of mine used to hang out with him.

I knew Jimmy Schuyler pretty well.

Poor Jimmy.

Yeah.

Sweetheart, next time someone asks you a question like that, you say, sure, I

knew them all.

I thought I would mark this occasion by reviving an old practice,

the toast.

So... We spend a lot of our

time as aspiring practicing artists looking up to the icons of the past,

standing in their long and formidable shadows.

The old masters who held art on their backs despite all the adversities they

might have faced and regardless of whether they received praise or silence.

One of these noble men, criminally overlooked and undervalued, is with us

here today.

We salute you, Ed Saxberger, for all that you have done and everything that

you have yet to do.

To Saxberger. Cheers.

You know, it's customary to answer one toast with another toast.

I don't think I've spoken to a group this big since my boss retired.

You know, it strikes me how young all of you are

and how very impressive.

I used to be the youngest one in every group, and then one day I became the

oldest.

Whatever I have contributed, I'm very touched.

So, to you, preservers of the national artistic inheritance,

from the great tradition of Whitman, Pound, and Williams,

It is to you, gentlemen, and to you, Gloria, that I raise my glass. Cheers.

Cheers. The Sax Burger.

I really enjoyed it. Why doesn't Ezra pound it?

No, no, no.

No, listen.

We insist. No, let me do something.

No, no, no. No, hey, we insist.

You sure?

yes well that's very kind thank you guys

This is me. This is me.

All right.

All right.

Okay.

Good night.

Good night, guys.

Good night! Good night!

Hey,

what

do most people smoke nowadays?

Which people?

Young people, like kids that go to NYU.

And one of these lighters.

That'll be $18.72.

You're kidding.

Nope.

Thanks.

Tell him to take my bare walls down, my cement abutments, their parties thereof

and claws of claws.

Leave me the land, scratch out the land.

May prose and property both die out and leave me peace.

The descent beckons as the ascent beckoned.

Memory is a kind of accomplishment, a sort of renewal, even

an initiation.

Since the space that it opens are new places...

Mister, are you brother? Are you alive?

Are you dead?

The harpers will sing forever of how Achilles met Adam among his slaves.

But we won't.

We are not shadow.

As we walk... Saxburger, it's Myers.

Look, I have a couple things I want to show you.

Can you drop by my place? I'm stuck here while I wait for the plumber to come and

fix my sink.

I'm on Sullivan.

It's unlocked!

I'll be right out.

I'm glad it's you.

I'm still waiting for the plumber.

It's kind of ostentatious, I know.

It's a bit sickening, I guess.

Not really.

I mean, for a poet.

Wallace Stevens was a poet, but he was a big executive at an insurance company.

Elliot worked in a bank, so?

My parents bought it as an investment when I started at NYU.

Ultimately, it's cheaper than the dorms.

Ah, okay.

So, you're done with school?

Yeah, I finished up my MA a little bit ago.

Uh, poetry, NYU?

Gallatin. I created my own major.

Virtues of style, rhetoric, and voice. But poetry was the main component, as

you might imagine.

Sure.

First edition.

Wow. Can I keep this?

Sure.

I debated a long time over the font, the card stock. Details like that really

matter. In 20 years, no one will have any physical memories.

That's right. I've experienced firsthand the way that technology rots the brain,

and I want no part of it.

Yeah, you mentioned that.

The others, did they all go to NYU?

Carmichael went to ETW for playwriting.

But, uh, Sherfy went to Parsons, which is just an expensive daycare. It dropped

out. Wynn is homeschooled, although he does seem to raise his hand a lot.

Fernandez went to RISD. For some reason, he's taken a vow of silence.

Broussard... If I'm not mistaken, his family owns every last soybean in the

state of Missouri.

He's got a penthouse over on Ludlow.

I heard his father gave him a lump sum to keep him out of St. Louis forever.

At any rate, the group is pretty motley, always in flux.

How about Gloria?

You seem particularly interested in Gloria.

No.

You just mentioned everyone else.

Gloria's background is a bit of a mystery. She likes it that way.

We don't care about what schools people went to or who their father is. I

mean...

Reverence for art is what binds us together. The rest is just background

noise. The delusional trimmings of late-stage capitalism.

Not to be so, ooh, capitalism.

But it's true.

We're radical. But ultimately, our contribution to society and our religion

is our art. Not that we're apolitical. I mean, that's important, of course. But

what about you?

Where did you go to school?

I dropped out of high school, actually.

I love that.

Yeah, well, I don't know.

I moved to the city in 77.

Picturing you with just, like, a duffel, $11 in your pocket.

It wasn't at all like that. I just had ants in my pants and wanted to get to

Mecca. How did you know that you were a poet?

I didn't. I just started writing.

There was a lot of poetry in the air at the time.

I was always going to readings, doing readings myself.

I was like part of a community, you know, kind of like yours.

Yeah, I see that.

Oh, I wanted to mention to you, I spoke to my family friend about you. He's an

agent at Knoll. He'd like to meet you.

Meet? Meet me?

Yes. What about?

How about you?

He hip-pockets me as a favor, lets me, uh... Put his name in the corner when I

submit to periodicals, but he's got a lot of great writers.

Poets, novelists.

Which poets? He's a good man and he loves writers.

So may I tell him yes?

Sure,

why not? I mean, you never know, right?

I should get going.

How about our poem?

How's it coming along?

Ah, it's good.

It's early.

It's a work in progress.

What is your process?

Sorry, presumptuous question.

Well, you know, I walk around and see stuff.

I don't know, it's been so long.

Do I have a process? I don't think so.

When do you suppose it'll be finished?

I don't know.

I like to let things settle before I commit to anything.

Interesting choice of words.

Well, this was fun.

Let me know when you've got something on paper.

Okay.

Ed, um, Saxberger.

You should write your memoirs.

Thanks for having me over.

Alexa, volume up 50%. Probably.

Hey,

you made it.

Look at this guy.

Hey, what's with the scarf?

It's a scarf.

Probably.

You got me a present?

Yeah, it's your birthday, isn't it? Yeah, that's real nice.

I mean, that's just real nice, isn't it?

I got it.

Hey, Molly. Yeah? Give this man a drink, and I'll take my ginger ale. You got it.

You're not even going to have one on my birthday?

Six years tells me no, but I love you anyway.

I don't know. He's kind of a leader.

He's pretentious, like something out of an Edith Wharton novel, like a damn

fancy, you know, refined.

You're a rich kid.

Not like those ones that you used to see that dressed like they were poor. He has

heirs. Plus, he's not such a kid. Must be nice.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday, dear Arnold.

Happy birthday...

You don't have to open it now. This isn't a bridal shower. Come on. What are

you talking about?

Way Past Go.

By Ed Saxberger.

I bet the pages are all blank inside.

I didn't need a reason.

Oh, okay.

Forget it. Forget it. Forget it. Hey, hey, hey. That's my present, man. You

can't just take back a person's present. What is it? Hey, it's a book of poems.

that i wrote when i was a kid no no i i wrote it in 1979.

look that's me okay

i i wrote a poem

for arnold too you want to hear it all right then once oh boy There once

was a man from Bay Ridge.

He drank to forget his marriage.

His wife was named Lisa.

She knew how to tease you.

But her tits were too nice to disparage.

You're a dead man.

For you guys.

And to be lost on you. Come on. Come on, do something. Do something from Don't

Pass Go.

I mean it.

Come on. What, you think we're too lowbrow?

Yeah, I do.

Excuse me?

Yeah, I do think you're too lowbrow. What the fuck, Ed? Hey, hey, come on.

You think you're some kind of fucking intellectual because you wrote some

poems 50 years ago?

You have no idea.

About what?

Who are you talking to?

Hang on to this.

It's a first edition.

Hey, where are you going? Come on, Ed. Oh, man.

There once was a man named Sax Burger.

And you know, Susan's very organized, so at least that's off my shoulders.

But it's getting to the point where I'm really going to need some extra help

here. Well, let's see how it goes.

Yeah, let's see how it goes.

Listen, I should go now.

He asked about you again.

Right.

I know you don't want to deal with this, but all that stuff that happened, that

was a long time ago.

Listen, he's not gonna get better. You don't want this weighing on you. I know,

I know.

Family's the most important thing there is in this life. Who says?

Okay, great.

Now you're getting me upset.

I'm gonna go now.

Okay. And when I call you, how about calling me back for once?

Okay.

Okay? Goodbye Goodbye

Sweeping, sweeping, sweeping through New York's vibrant art field thanks to young

artists whose full names remain somewhat of a mystery to the... Saxberger! I went

to the coffee shop. They said you'd be here. You gotta see this.

What are we celebrating?

They don't recommend just anything.

These aren't just a bunch of influencers. I mean, these are real

tastemakers. Nice, nice. Make it simple, you know, bare bones.

Bare bones, one life. We don't need anything else. What about music?

Going in and out. Well, look at it. Cute little playlist.

Who the fuck do you think we are?

Fuck off, Broussard.

You know Gloria's with Michael now.

Okay.

I just... I thought you should know.

Why?

I see what she's doing with you.

She did it to me, too.

Broussard. Broussard, Broussard, I want to talk to you about... Like they're

coming into church.

I do actually think the music would be good.

They're going to need to have some sort of, like, interlude, you know? But it's

not, like, instrumental.

Hello. Hello, Gann.

I know what he was just whispering to you.

That that young man over there is my lover.

Yeah.

Broussard came on to me once.

Well, a few times, a little bit.

But once he really came on to me, and I pushed him down the stairs of my

apartment building.

That's terrible.

I can't stand how jealous and petty he is.

It's just because he can tell that I like you.

And it drives him crazy.

I have a very high tolerance for despicable men.

That's the exact opposite of what I'm trying to say.

Okay.

Okay, bye.

Sorry.

I apologize in advance. We just moved in here.

And obviously not renovated, so... An office is an office, right?

It's funny.

Seriously, thank you for meeting with me. Hey.

It's an honor and a pleasure.

So, why don't you tell me about yourself?

What do you want to know?

You haven't had one of these meetings before, I'm assuming?

You could tell.

Well, we're just getting to know each other. Right. Okay, to see if we'd like

to work together.

Okay. Okay.

Yeah.

I was born in western Pennsylvania, and I've been here in the city since I

was 17.

Jewish? By name, but my father was an observant. My mother's family was mainly

German.

We were raised Catholic.

And what did they do?

He worked in a mill.

It was a brewery, paper mill town.

She was a homemaker.

That's the real America.

How do you know Myers?

Wilson, you mean?

Right, right.

Our families go way back.

My father founded a law firm, where his father is now a senior partner.

And I'll probably take the reins one day.

Um, I grew up in Mamaroneck.

My sister babysat him. You know, all the typical suburban, uh... uninteresting

stuff. So, uh, enough about me.

Why don't I tell you a little bit about what we do around here? Okay. Okay?

We have no mandate.

We are passion-driven, and we represent unique voices, and then we help them get

to where they want to go.

I have poets.

I have content creators and sports figures and authors and cookbook

writers, who's actually killing it, by the way. What kind of cookbook?

Pies.

It's just pies.

So, my tastes are pretty eclectic, as you can probably tell.

And I'm indicative of that.

Exactly. And you work at the post office now, Myers tells me. 37 years.

That is so amazing.

Wow. So Myers gave you a copy of Way Past Goal?

Yes. Yeah, it's just amazing work. It's so impactful, really.

Yeah. And you're thinking of reissuing my work, I'm assuming?

Um, eventually.

Maybe, yeah, once the memoir's finished.

Memoir? How far into it are you?

I haven't even given it a thought.

Well, we can make it painless for you, if you like. We'd set you up with

somebody, and you'd just tell the stories and enjoy some catered lunches,

and then they'd... Look, to be honest, the memoir was Meyer's idea, not mine.

Oh.

Look, we use the term

discovery around here a lot. But you, sir, are not a discovery.

You are something much better and much rarer.

You are a re-discovery.

I'm a re-discovery?

I didn't know.

Yeah. And that's precious.

What do you think?

Could I have some time to think about it?

I totally understand.

You take all the time you need.

I have got a Zoom.

So... Ed, did

you see some students moved into 1F? They look about 11. No, I didn't.

You like to bake?

Uh... Not really.

Sure you do.

Hi.

I wanted to see your place.

Okay.

Let me help you out.

Welcome. That's a very elegant coat.

Oh, thank you.

It was a gift.

So here's where he writes.

Not yet.

But you did write, and you will again.

I don't know.

You think that now, but you don't know how the fame will affect you.

Fame?

Yeah, fame.

Don't put the cart before the horse.

You might think the boys are silly, but they have connections.

It could be big for you.

You know, you really ought to mentally prepare.

And how are you preparing for your fame?

Did I say something wrong?

No.

It's just there's nothing more exciting than a rediscovered male genius.

What about a female genius?

It's better to be an engineer.

Excuse me.

Yeah? It's Arnold.

I'm a little busy now.

Open up, you schmuck.

Who's Arnold?

He's a friend.

Should I hide under the bed or behind a shower curtain? No.

Hey, sorry to bust in on you. It's okay. What's going on? Who is it, dear?

Oh, you know, I can come back another time.

Gloria Gardner.

Enchante.

No, please.

I'll meet you downstairs across the street at the cafe.

Edward Darling.

Okay.

Edward Darling.

Hey, we haven't seen you around for a couple of days. I'm sorry, but... You

know, those guys really wound me up. It wasn't you.

They're great guys, but sometimes they can be real assholes. Yeah, I get it.

Who is she?

She's an actress. She's reading my poems.

Reading your poems?

Yeah, there's a group, and they're having a reading.

It's nothing. It's no big deal. 30 years we know each other, and now all of a

sudden you got secrets?

It's not important.

Okay, so...

Can we come? No.

I mean it. I don't want anyone there. Fine. I won't tell anyone. We won't

come.

Can I come?

We'll see, maybe.

Listen, thanks for coming, but, you know, she's waiting for me downstairs.

Yeah, yeah, she's... She's cool.

She's cool.

Yeah, okay. So, I guess...

Yeah, gonna come check out the Georgetown St. John's game. Oh, damn. I

forgot all about that. I got a lot of stuff. Whatever.

What do you have there?

You know what these are.

Come on.

It'll be fun.

If you say so.

Soho's changed a lot since you got here, right?

Oh, yeah.

You see those windows at the top of that building?

That was Frank Moore's loft.

When I first got to the city, I went to a party there and had poets, painters,

writers, and theater people.

Cookie Miller did a reading.

Cookie was cool.

Sharon was there.

Downtown was another world then.

Soho was like living on the moon.

You couldn't get a cab.

Everyone was an artist, everyone was poor, everyone was young, until they

weren't.

My hands are cold.

Yeah.

What do you do to get by? Acting gigs?

Mostly. I manage. I sing, too.

Well, you're different than those rich kids that don't have to do anything. It

seems like you work hard and you make your own way.

You're not supposed to think that.

I'm not?

No.

You're supposed to think that I eat caviar for breakfast and that I go to

Paris every year to buy the finest silks.

Who are you?

That's more like it.

I mean it.

Saxburger.

Saxburger?

Oh, Saxburger.

Gloria.

Gloria.

I was supposed to write my poem today.

Oh shoot, what time is it?

We gotta go, we're gonna be late.

Where are we going?

We're going back in time.

I was young, I was just 16 then, when you came up from Burma one day.

And you told me to pack up my suitcase, and you did, and you took me away.

I said, do you work nice and steady, or do you go sailing and roving out

to sea?

And you said, I have a job on the railroad, and baby, how swell it's all

gonna be.

You said a lot, Johnny.

It was all lies.

You sure had me fooled, Johnny, right from the start.

I hate you when you laugh at me like that.

Take that damn pipe out of your mouth, Johnny.

Is it really the end?

and gentle till I packed up and went off with you.

And it lasted two weeks until one day you laughed at me and you hit me too.

You dragged me all over the city, up the river and down to

the sea.

Now I look at myself in the mirror and there's an old woman staring back at me.

You didn't want love, Johnny.

You wanted cash.

But one look at those lips, Johnny, and that was that.

I gave you all I had, but you wanted more, Johnny.

Wipe that nasty grin right off your face, you rat.

Suda by ya, Johnny.

No one's meaner than you.

Suda.

But oh God, I still love you.

Okay You want I tried one now, okay There once was a man from old

Flatbush he tried There

once

was a man from old Flatbush He

He looked far and wide for a beautiful bride, and

the ones he knew cried, and seasons collide.

Good.

Right? Oh, yeah.

You must have been beautiful when you were young.

Seasons collide.

Seasons collide.

Seasons collide.

What thou lovest well remains, the rest is dross.

What thou lovest well shall not be reft from thee.

What thou lovest well is thy true heritage.

Past is past.

And if one remembers what one meant to do and never did, is that to have

thought to do enough?

Past is past.

Seasons collide.

Seasons collide.

I've never read another poem.

Well, so far...

Only about a dozen, and five of those are Wynne's family. And our neighbor and

our neighbor's friend.

Most people just show up and buy a ticket at the door. No, they don't.

Yeah, they do.

Hi, I'm Ed.

She's a friend. Regardless, the best thing we can do is make sure if you want

someone there, they know when it is.

Remind your friends.

Call in the favor.

Wynne, how many times have we emailed you? He said maybe.

That's his wife's name. Can you pull that up?

What about your friends?

I don't have any friends.

You didn't have any friends from back in the day? Like who?

Like Gregory Corso.

He wasn't my friend, and besides, he's dead.

Sorry, I mean, I was thinking of somebody else.

I have work friends, but they don't really have an ear for poetry.

Well, once they're in the chair, they're the audience, and that's what we need.

The more, the better.

Hey, did you give Gloria your poem?

No, I haven't finished it yet. So where are you at in the process?

I'm... I haven't... written it out fully yet.

Actually, I haven't even started it.

It's tomorrow.

I know. Will you be able to finish it?

Probably not.

So, what are we supposed to do?

You already have a lot of other... poems right that's true we can use uh one of

the older ones it would be new to the audience in any case like you said no

would you be okay with that sex worker that sounds good no it doesn't it

already says new work well it's too late to reprint them now i i wasn't being

lazy i don't want you to think that you know i i just couldn't do it it's not a

sad thing it just didn't happen you know

Sometimes I think if I was living a different life, like if I had some

residencies or tenure spots somewhere, maybe if I was living that life, maybe

it would be easier to write a poem, but that didn't happen.

And I'm not sure I wanted that life anyway.

We'll use the old one.

It's okay. Ed.

When? The listservs that you emailed.

Can you send me them? Yeah. All of them. I want to see the list. Because how many

of the people on here are people we don't know?

None.

Hello?

It's me.

Who?

Saxberger.

You showed up at my place unannounced.

Hi.

Hell of a climb.

Yeah, look, it's good to see you, but this isn't a good time.

You have to go somewhere?

No. I'm sorry for barging in, but I...

This is a friend.

He's gonna leave in a minute.

That's your roommate?

Yeah.

How'd you hook up with him? It's his apartment. He's a dear old friend. So

what's going on?

Not very friendly.

Let's have the rest of this conversation the next time we see each other, all

right? Is everything okay? Yes, it's fine.

Are you fucking this guy for free, Red? James, it sucks, Parker.

Sorry, I'm just trying to understand.

I'm fine, really.

I came here...

Because I wanted to tell you that I've been thinking about you.

Okay.

Did I do something wrong?

No.

Things are just complicated for me.

Well, I marked the poem for tomorrow.

Great.

Hey, why don't you get dressed and come with me? I'll take you out to dinner.

That's lovely, but I need to take a rain check, okay?

I just want to make sure you're really okay. Yes, really.

You better leave, okay? I'm going to say goodbye now.

It's kind of a communal space.

There actually seem to be people living here.

I think there's an MP3 in there as well that I sent to you.

The guy's right in the back. I just don't understand. Why can't you just

read it?

Why can't you read it? Hi, fellas.

Hey. There's just no way that I can read it. It's written explicitly for a woman.

I haven't prepared.

Can we find a woman? It's fine.

No, I'm not a performer. I'm a playwright. That has to mean something.

What are you talking about? Gardner isn't coming.

She doesn't feel like it.

What?

Yeah, she's sick. She might not come.

Who's going to read my poem?

Well, it's a migraine. She has that. A migraine? No. Her and Carmichael got

into an argument. That's all. She's just winding him up. She's making him sweat.

It's going to be all right. Fuck off for sorry. Fuck you.

This is so fucked up, man.

I don't even know what I'm doing here.

This isn't easy for me.

For you, you're all young, well off.

You got nothing to lose.

It's like you don't give a shit. Where's my clipboard? Myers, what's the plan?

Plan? My poem. Who's going to read it? There's a lot going on. This isn't all

about your poem.

Gloria!

Am I the last one here?

Yeah. But you're on time, don't worry.

I almost missed it, kids.

But I'm here.

Okay. Can I get a glass of room temperature water?

I thought you knew this. No, Fernandez has taken this vow of silence. My

neighbor.

A battle has been raging for the soul of our community of artists.

A battle very few brainwashing social media is threatening your very freedom

of thought.

It's homogenizing the masses and paving way to dictatorship.

Clickbait cognitive dictatorship.

I wouldn't dictatorship as a fact.

Okay, that's my cue. Revolution is a right.

Revolution is a right.

For those of you who don't know, that's Victor Hugo, one of the greatest writers

of the 19th century. Just help me out of this. Terminate your cellular devices

immediately for the remainder of the evening.

It is my honor to introduce to you the Enthusiasm Society.

Help me, I got it.

Where is my little boy?

That's a question of every day, isn't it? That's what the neighbors ask.

And his school friends.

And the policemen, too. I told them I didn't know, and I still don't.

Where is my little boy?

Even a doctor's visit feels like a refreshing change of pace.

Even the DMV.

He played outside with the neighborhood kids. It was that kind of place.

I grew up in a hideous place, but here, this is a childhood.

Where's my little boy?

I know where my son's body is.

After the accident, after I panicked and cleaned everything up,

I hid his tiny body from everyone, even his own father.

Where did he go then?

Such a decision cannot be undone once it is made, you see.

You see!

I can tell, you see.

I just need to sit down.

I just need a New York

minute.

Great talons shred the sky, weeping rain.

Gloria, you're reading next. Wynne's poem isn't very long.

Hey.

Gloria.

down the rivulets that spread through and over my core existence.

Is she okay?

Yeah. No, she's okay. She's breathing fine. Gloria.

Where my words sparkle like diamonds.

Love you, sweetie.

She's out.

You're gonna have to read it yourself.

I guess so.

You're right.

This is as it always should have been.

Where's the book? I think it's in her jacket.

I'm going to introduce you.

Fuck.

A rare thing

to discover someone whose work is as relevant today as it was in 1979.

Someone who

confoundingly slipped through the cracks of a culture that desperately needed

him. It is my great honor and pleasure to

reintroduce the great New York poet Ed Saxberger.

I'm going to be reading from Way Past Go.

I flew like a spark from the fires I kindled back in the rusted hollow heart

of this America.

Kept my eyes on the sky from the back window of a Peter Pan bus all the way

into my dark, glittering asphalt mecca.

Pot-marked streets I ached to walk rolled out for me. A wine-dark

carpet with an underworld humming underfoot.

My moving shadow landed.

Downtown, where everything was always happening, right now and forever.

A thousand and one nights on $1.98 a day.

Discount delights of shimmering rayon and scattered stones of cubic zirconia.

Canal Street, canvas sky over cardboard sea. From dawn

to dawn, right now.

and forever.

We made everything happen and never stopped and never called it work because

it was all only ours.

Beat to beat, from waking up cold on cracked rib floors to writing

these words for you and only you.

I'd you behind the bar at Three Roses.

pencil wrists, raccoon eyes, puckered lipstick mouth that murmured, how about

you write me a sonnet?

Wrote that first one by candlelight at your place on Grand and Thompson after

we came so hard that we both cried.

Writing this one with shivering hand on the uptown A train.

To get to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem, longer than a sonnet, a poem that

won't end until it finds you, wherever you've gone to.

Maybe tending bar at a Blarney Stone, or out on tour with that band again.

Maybe picking peaches in the San Joaquin Valley, or doing the au pair thing in L

.A., or maybe...

You're with me like Eurydice, daring me to turn around.

That first night at Three Roses, rockets whispered in my ear,

She'll burn you, man.

And that's just what you did.

Right now and forever.

That's great.

Get ready for offers.

Hey, Saxberger.

How'd it go?

Just beautifully.

You don't look satisfied.

I'm really thirsty.

I'm having a hard time.

Will

you

tell Carmichael that I accepted the role in Minneapolis?

I don't know what you're talking about.

I'm doing Winter's Tale at a very respected theater in Minneapolis.

Wonderful.

That's great news, right?

Yeah.

You know, I'm an artist.

And I belong to no one, just my art.

What's that?

It's just a little something.

Have you been to a party?

May I?

What does that mean?

Goodbye and farewell, brother.

You're leaving?

No. I'm just quoting some poetry.

You should keep it.

Looks better on you.

Goodnight. Hi. Jimmy died a couple hours ago.

Just thought you should know.

See you later.

The Enthusiasm Society, a self-declared literary group with a cheerful or

sarcastic name, depending on your interpretation, staged a recital,

reading, performance, maybe a hodgepodge is more like it, a hodgepodge of

poets and writers and actors. As an event, it all had a kind of ramshackle

charm. Apart from a haunting reading by an old...

an old village bard, and an all-stops-out performance by a veteran

actress you didn't miss much if you didn't attend.

Where's Gloria? She and Saxberger came out okay.

She wanted me to tell you guys that she was offered a gig at this theater in

Minneapolis, and she's gonna take it.

Good for her.

Here's a...

Some arts website.

Yesterday, a reading of works by Lower Manhattan's best known... Best known...

Literary Society Enthusiasm. It was organized by the group's Diaghilev,

Wilson Myers.

Who's Diaghilev?

Ballet Russe.

Nijinsky, Stravinsky.

He's a great impresario.

But poems monologues and essays presented by the mostly young authors

themselves and actresses Then they just sort of name

Yeah all of us so that's that's good right

special mention of the actress and Met with lively ovations from the audience

Even if the fermenting must has a way to go before aging into an elegant wine

This group of young artistes could signal the start of something new and

the return of something old and sorely needed. That's not bad. That's actually

pretty good, right?

Something off about it.

What do you mean?

Who did say wrote it?

Uh, just says staff.

You're being awfully fucking quiet over there.

You're just letting the must ferment.

Wait, what does that mean?

He wrote it.

I don't understand.

You wrote that?

I don't understand.

I may have used my influence a bit. You used your influence or you wrote it?

It's a matter of positioning.

If Diaghilev were alive today, he would have written his own reviews.

It's a half-step away from what they already are, and I mean, I couldn't

write you a rave review.

I was very fair.

You're not fucking Diaghilev.

Who gave you the permission to anoint us the start of the return of fucking

anything? I mean, who even made you our fucking leader?

I am the leader!

Who else would be the leader?

I worked day and night to bring us all under one tent. Why?

Because I believe I brought us together. I kept us together. I found it,

for God's sake.

Sorry, I didn't suck your dick about some stupid fucking essay.

What do you believe in, huh?

Nothing!

Fuck this.

That's enough for me.

Yeah, me too.

Want to go get dinner?

No.

I'm too tired.

Yeah.

And I lost my appetite too.

Saxberger. Hi.

I just, I wanted to say that I really have a lot of respect for you and your

work.

It's very kind.

Well, anyway,

I was wondering if you would be amenable to taking a look at some of my work.

I really trust your opinion, and I'd like to know if you...

I don't think I have any talent.

You're young. You have everything ahead of you.

Yeah, I know. I realize that.

It's just, you know, before I dedicate my life to something I wanted... Look,

look.

Whatever you send me, I'll look at it. I'd be happy to. But as far as deciding

whether you have talent or not, I don't know the first thing about that.

But your sex...

If it was really good or really awful, maybe.

But then talent is just part of it.

You know, you really should put your self-worth on a platter and hand it to

an old guy like me.

Wait, you're a genius.

Stop.

Why do you put so much stock in my opinion?

Tell me something.

Did you honestly like Way Past Goal?

I've been dying to read it, really, and I keep asking Myers.

He promised he would lend it to me. He promised everybody, but you can't really

rely on him. So?

I mean, he, you know, I want it. Nobody read it, right? But your reading was

amazing.

Okay.

You don't read mine, I don't read yours.

Okay?

Good luck, kid.

well this is the final

With this cozy.

That's something, that's something, that's something.

Okay, here we go.

Like that. No, I don't like that.

I like that, but I don't like that.

Oh, oh.

Yeah, we all suck. Take over. Sorry, buddy.

I'm rusty.

Baby, baby.

Ah, trash.

Well. Nice.

Keep going, baby.

Okay. I can do that.

You got that?

Scratch off the back.