SEE/SAW (with Ken Norris)

 

Cast of Characters

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE
FIRST MATE
2 DANCERS

SCENE I

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

I saw my country in half: broken-hearted, broken-hearted,
marching toward the grave beginnings of an Earned Run Average,
chock-full with servitude, injustice and desertion.

FIRST MATE

Abominable.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

I saw my country male and female,
English and French.

FIRST MATE

Master and slave.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

I saw my country male and female,
approach the future divorce-minded,
face the firing squad of poverty with fear.
I saw my province pregnant
with power, unilingual, suffering
the alienation of her half-brothers and half-sisters
of the West.

FIRST MATE

Suffer the children...

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

I saw what might have been, what is,
what will be, periodically cry out
with abduction and murder. I saw
the battle on the plains of Abraham
like I would a balloon.

FIRST MATE

I saw a hundred thousand march to war
on a cloudy day in December, 25 below.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

I saw the battle.

FIRST MATE

I saw below the city unfurled
a Registered Retirement Savings Plan,
burrowing its way into the infinite land
of 15 billion dollar programs, to build
an industrial complex at Al Subdil
in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia.
There goes another eastern province.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

I saw my sleepwalking country
in a half-way house on Bleury
with a guitar case and a camera.

FIRST MATE

I saw foreign investment
and more foreign investment
and more more foreign investment
settle on the shores of the St. Lawrence
like so many ants on a heap of rotten eggs.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

I saw my sleeping country
wake from its deep mediocrity
only to discover a malignant tomorrow
in its left breast. I saw my sleepwalking country
with a guitar case lying open on the sidewalk
on a Saturday afternoon in July; I threw him a dime
to hear him sing of California and the beaches
and the girls with blonde hair and love.

FIRST MATE

He'll cut his hair next week, move back to Ottawa,
think Kaybeck is Kweebeck and opt for Spanish
as a second language.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

O Can a dance without partners exist?

FIRST MATE

Merry go round the mountain, merry go round the sky.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

I saw the flags waving, I couldn't
help it, I saw the army marching, I couldn't
mistake it, I saw their swords gleaming
bright in the sunlight, I didn't restrain it,
moving with ease and grace
through the crowded streets of my city.
I saw their lips moving
with unmistakeable joual, I couldn't
dig it, I saw the army marching,
I couldn't believe it, I couldn't stop seeing
the merciless merciless hand of fate
pronounce them country and wife,
man and strife, til death do your part...

FIRST MATE

Semen.

The Sign Anti- turns into Art by obliterating the "i-" and the right foot of the letter "n".

SCENE II

Two dancers appear

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Come, let us make or break a nation.

FIRST MATE

Aren't English and French just made for each other?

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Made for washing each other.

FIRST MATE

Made for watching each other washing each other.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

I can make out a pair of eyes. What do you make of it?

FIRST MATE

I make it a wrong turn heading down Sherbrooke,
going West.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Make yourself comfortable, make room all around,
for a change is being made, a change is being made
all around, change is being made
in nickels and dimes.
What do you make of it?

FIRST MATE

I make it a duet, Francophones dancing
in the streets of Ontario, Grand, de la Savane,
Peel, Fleet, Hochelaga, Galt, Aylmer, Remembrance.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Make yourself believe a change is being made,
make a change by believing a change is being made,
make change happen, one for all - all arms and legs.
What do you make of it?

FIRST MATE

I make it a maple leaf and fleur de lys
as naked lovers, embracing.
I heard someone say, in simultaneous translation,
" love conquers all"
(or was it just the daily shifting of earwax)

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

There! is emotion excited by a novel,
unexpected thing; there is astonishment
mixed with perplexity, curiosity
and there, in the second row, yes,
admiration. I should not be surprised.

FIRST MATE

Faisons-le avec Mary. Faisons-le
avec Janey and Mary. Faisons-le avec Mary,
et Merle, Jacques et Patricia, Marcel, Jennifer, René.
Faisons-le bien.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

What do you make of the act of interfering
unlawfully, in a suit, by making
a financial contribution to either party, to carry it on?
What do you make of that? Let's make a rule.

FIRST MATE

Pack your suitcase and head for Toronto.
How do you make a fortune?

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

You make a fortune by making war. Make war
against the disease of language and culture
threatening our suburbs, infiltrating its hideous thoughts
thru TV... now only 99.99!

FIRST MATE

You can make the team by swallowing goldfish
followed by an infinitive. If you watch your watch
you can make the train behave.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Make the train behave, by making
500 miles the first day, and so on.

FIRST MATE

So, on the train, make the goldfish behave.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

By following them with an imperative.

FIRST MATE

Let's make it with Janey. Let's make it
with Janey and Mary.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Let's make it good. Make an oath.

FIRST MATE

Maudit parapluie, if it ever stops raining
I'm gonna stomp those Mae Wests in the gutter, I swear,
maudit tabernacle, shit, I swear,
by the power invested in this paradise, on becoming
a disabled veteran of the force of good, fuck!
I swear, Big John, if we ever get outathis alive,
we'll have the sheriff's head! and then some, too...

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

The white paper has become the blueprint
we will never forget. War, we will never forget.
War, we will never regret.

FIRST MATE

If this is the second movement, like
1st, 2nd, 3rd, bearing in mind
the elemental nature of the piece, first,
why can't we just say so? I mean,
war, we will never forget, a wart
we will never forget. But who is
Peter Paul Van Kemp?

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Make merry, my friends, make haste, mes amis,
for the bell is struck in our land; the crickets' chirp
has stopped, and the machine has gone full tilt.
What do you make of it?

FIRST MATE

It's a Bell Canada bill, made out to monsieur,
a little love note from the tele-boutique.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Make believe that this is not happening,
not here, not now, not ever, not to you,
not to me, not to him, not to her, whether
we like it, or not. What do you make of it?

FIRST MATE

A frog fable. One day,
I came upon this frog in the elevator,
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th,
on the 6th, 7th, 8th, on the 9th
of December, I think it was.

SCENE III

The Sign Anti-Country turns into Art-Court by obliterating the "i-" and "y" and the right foot of the two letters "n".

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

French schools or English schools?

FIRST MATE

School English schoolchildren in French schools.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

School French schoolchildren in English schools.

FIRST MATE

School English schoolchildren in English schools.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

School French schoolchildren in French schools.

FIRST MATE

School immigrant schoolchildren in French schools.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

School immigrant schoolchildren in English schools.

FIRST MATE

School children of immigrant schoolchildren in French schools.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

School the nieces of immigrant schoolchildren in English schools.

FIRST MATE

School the famous children of immigrant schoolchildren in French schools.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

School the children of immigrant schoolchildren
in ways to make them vote for French schools
for English schoolchildren, or children
of immigrant schoolchildren, socialization,
disestablishmentarianism, depotism,
fear of science and unidentified material phenomena,
boxing games.

SCENE IV

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

In the north and northwest, the winters are long
and harsh, the summers short and hot.
Winter arrives early and is followed by
a late spring and hot summer. L'Annonciation.

FIRST MATE

Halifax.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Musquaro.

FIRST MATE

Corner Brook.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Joliette. Rimouski.

FIRST MATE

It was like a nightmare. One minute, we were talking,
the next, there was a crash. I wasn't looking at her.
I was driving.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Temiscaming.

FIRST MATE

I was watching the road.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Gagnon. Grandes Bergeronnes. St. Tite.

FIRST MATE

I looked over and saw... looked over and saw...

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Lachute.

FIRST MATE

This hole in the windshield.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Laval.

FIRST MATE

She was covered with broken glass...

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Langlade. Latuque. La Reine.

FIRST MATE

Bleeding... The rock smashed into the windshield,
shattering it, smashed into her stomach, at 4:05 p.m.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Baie Comeau.

FIRST MATE

The rock came off the bridge, about 15 feet above the highway.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Chibougamou.

FIRST MATE

Whether it fell of its...

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Sherbrooke. Magog.

FIRST MATE

We both work at the psychiatric hospital.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Sept Iles. Québec.

FIRST MATE

In a similar incident, a 64-year-old woman
was killed by an 80-lb. boulder, dropped
from an overpass, by a 15-year-old boy.
JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Mont Jacques Cartier. Mont Louis. Mont Tremblant.
Mont Laurier. Monet.

FIRST MATE

Two boys, believed to be 12-14 years old,
were seen carrying a 30-lb. cobblestone,
during the rush hour.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Ste. Marie. St. Sauveur. St. Jérome. St. Jean.
St. Jovite. St. Gabriel. Ste. Agathe. St. Lin.
St. Germaine. St. Georges. St. Pamphile.
St. Pascale. St. Jean Port Jolie. St. Simeon. Ste. Anne.
Ste. Augustine. St. Pierre. St. Paul.
St. Profond d'en Arrière, St. Félicien. Ste. Hyacinthe.
St. Joseph, mon dieu.

FIRST MATE

Tuesday afternoon.

JUSTICE OF THE PIECE

Montréal. Montreal.


The End