JANE (1971)
She’d lost it all—
her peppermint green
Cadillac Deville,
and a white fox stole
like the fur Marilyn wore.
It was time to land in Montreal.
She looked down at her dress,
which was obviously unclean.
She tried to calm herself. This
was her first flight since the divorce.
When the pilot’s voice came calling
he calmed her nervousness back.
She stepped into the aisle when
from the restroom, a minister approached.
He was the embodiment of Jacopo
del Casentino’s Saint John the Baptist—
a waif man dressed in a humeral veil
like a shadow at noon. He asked
if she was fine. She leaned in but
couldn’t see his face. He whispered
a short prayer: God is with you, child,
no matter when. No matter where.