The Writer

William Sauro

CAPOTE THE WRITER 

“Remember, first of all,

 that no one in the larger 

world cares whether you 

write or not.  If you want 

to write, it is you and you 

alone who must create the 

space, that will make 

writing possible.”

—Paul Russell, author of

THE UNREAL LIFE OF

SERGEY NABOKOV

_____________________

Which is what Capote did—
in order to survive way Out There

Gawd knows Truman was—
strange & outré enough as it was
__________________

He needed Harper Lee desperately—
to accompany him Out There

Because that’s what it really was—
compared with New York City
_____________

He simply loved & adored NYC—
loved the feel of pavement under

His heels going clickity-click down—
busy classy chic Fifth Avenue
_______________

Major thoroughfare of Manhattan—
Fifth Avenue crossing Midtown 

Especially 49th Street to 60th Street—
lined with prestigious shops & resaurtants
_________________

After all, isn’t that where Tiffany’s was—
the "most expensive street in the world"?

Once he’d done that, go figure what—
really matters to a writer like Capote
_________________

Doesn’t it seem strange to you that—
he’d give William Shawn a call right away?

After reading the little article there—
that morning in The New York Times?
_____________________

Why would Capote even want to—
go out there to that godforsaken hell?

And be on the Santa Fe Super Chief—
with Harper Lee as soon as possible?
_________________

Was it literary ambition that drove him—
desire for GONE WITH THE WIND fame?

Wanting to be America’s very own Valentin—
Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust?
_________________

Surely smart critics saw thru his façade—
Capote’s whole Non-Fiction Novel fantasy?

Ending up writing about it as if his life—
depended on it (because, in fact, it did)?