...written shortly after the killing.
I wrote my version as a personal catharsis a couple days afterward. I modified it many times as the details appeared, were refuted, and evidence leaked slowly out in response to the public outcry.
A key element of Bob Dylan's The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll is that we are instructed not to respond to the events, not to feel, not to cry - with the chorus:
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
Take the rag away from your face
Now ain't the time for your tears.
Not to cry as the murder is described, not as the wealthy scion killer is introduced, to cry as the poor working class, gentle mother is struck down, not to cry for all that. We are allowed to feel our deepest emotions only when
In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel
To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level
And that the strings in the books ain't pulled and persuaded
And that even the nobles get properly handled
Once that the cops have chased after and caught 'em
And that ladder of law has no top and no bottom
Stared at the person who killed for no reason
Who just happened to be feelin' that way without warnin'
And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished
And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance
William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence
Ah, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
Bury the rag deep in your face
For now's the time for your tears.
Travon didn't even get the justice of a 6 month sentence. Now is the time for our tears, confusion, and anger.
The whole sequence of events leaves me empty and uncomprehending.
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