86
PARTISAN REVIEW
Interv iew with j ean j ohnson
K:
Do you remember me, j ean ?
J:
Why, Kenneth Koch. Yo u haven ' t changed a t a ll.
K:
That's unusual. I h aven ' t seen
YOll
fo r a lmos t fift y yea rs.
J:
No, it couldn 't be fift y. I'm no t even fifty yea rs o ld now.
K:
I guess it was thirty-five. God how I used to love your bi g tits a nd
your laughin g a ri stocra ti c a irs.
J:
I liked your humo r, your lean nervou sn ess, and a ll, but you were
such a kid. Others were mo re g rown up. You didn ' t seem ...
CHORUS:
...
to want the respon sibility of a compl ete rela ti o n ship
with me.
(As the Chorus says thi s, Jean gets up and danccs. Her dan ce is a
hi ghl y stylized and symboli c version of a melancho ly wa lt z. Kenn eth
watches her, fascinated. Finall y, h e sta nd up, ta kes off hi s shin, and
rush es toward her,
to
ta ke her in hi s arms. But she has van ished.)
CHOR US:
That was no t the rea l j ean j ohn son you saw but a phan-
tom.
K:
And the on e I kn ew as a child ?
CHOR US:
Sh e was rea l.
K:
Wha t else is rea l?
CHOR US:
Onl y the movements of thi s da nce.
(The Choru s rises and dances to the same wa ltz mu sic as before. BlIt
Jean John son docs not appear. Kenn eth weeps. )
K:
Illusion pil ed on illusion . Either superfi cia lit y of " press in gn css" or
no thingness. I must find wh a t is in between . And now on ce aga in it
is dawn . Was this onl y a dream ?
HOTEL WA ITER (shouting in Kennet h 's ea r):
Mr. Koch ! Wake lip !
It 's th e mornin g! The ma n from Ma rra kesh has
com e
with a n ew
windshi eld fo r your car!
K:
That h appen ed yes terday.
HW:
Now it has happen ed aga in.
K:
Thank you very mu ch . Would you like to be intervi ewed ? How
long have you li ved h ere?
HW:
All
m y life.
K:
I think my wo rk on Essaouira ma y be a lmost compl ete.
Mo re Essaouira
Not quite yet, tho ugh . I see tha t I have left o ut so much. And they
