High Noon

By Mary Kennan Herbert


My father dropped my brother and me off at the theater
so we could see Gary Cooper in High Noon.
It was a satisfying movie, and the courage of a lone lawman
appealed to my brother and me. Perhaps to my father too.
He made it possible for us to see that film. He did not
get to see it himself, but provided the stagecoach for us.
Why do I remember this? His green Buick once again
making something possible, to see Cooper in black and white,
and to hear Tex Ritter’s mournful song convincing me
that love cannot be forsaken, it must be forever, it’s the Code
of the West. And dad gave us an extra dollar for popcorn,
and promised to pick us up afterwards. He did. The End.

 

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, with Midwestern and Southern roots, Mary Kennan Herbert now lives in Brooklyn, NY, where she teaches literature and writing courses at Long Island University and other colleges in the New York area.  Her poems have won awards and have been widely published in over twenty different countries.  Several collections of her work have been published by Ginninderra Press in Australia.

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