Richard Burton on the Dick Cavett Show

The first thing he does is take off his shoes.
His socks are red. Red for luck.
Red because he is a movie star.
Red because he grew up in the valley
with a seam of coal under the ground.
Stretching from Wales to Pennsylvania.
His father, dark from coal dust,
drunk from burnt whiskey at the bar,
home to make babies and sleep off the drink —
His father, in love only with a seam of coal,
with the one stroke that could break it loose from the earth.
He makes fifty thousand.
Has always made money.
Leaves England because of taxes.
Talks for two hours. Are his feet cold?
He is graceful about Elizabeth giving her three lines,
aware of his last young wife who waits off stage.
He says he calls you by your full name
if he loves you.
At the end, Cavett asks him for Camelot.
He won’t sing. He wants you to buy the record.
Instead he will say the part
when Arthur becomes the king.
His eyes. Quiet. See the stone.
His body remembers the pull of the sword.
His father walked into the earth everyday -
came up to drink and make thirteen babies,
The second to the last son became the king.
His voice is warm honey just before it falls off the spoon.
© annie fahy 2017
** watch the whole interview or fast forward to the end to hear Camelot :
See my book of poetry on Amazon called The Glass Train…

