PRISON KEEPERS


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THE DISSOLUTE SEAMAN

“Mrs. Teed was bound to Jack by a chain which could not be dissolved. That son, whom she has brought to prove the innocence of her husband, was put to bed with the assassin of her uncle.”- Martin Van Buren to the jury.     “I’m starting to wonder if James Teed might not have gone from some otherwise low tide indifference (or pleasure) with Anak-Jack clam diggin’ with ex- Hanna to facilitating a double elimination (Dick & fall guy Jack),(also pleasure), lubed and fueled by the still house formaldehyde? Power and dignity may be taller boots indeed, but they seem to sink even deeper into their own shit. Keep it comin’! I’ll winch my ass out when I need to!” This quote is courtesy of my good friend, and loyal reader, artist Ted Rosenthal. Every morning he reads the blog and responds with his helpful exegesis. It’s an invaluable gift that reminds me that at least one person is reading. You think art is a lonely game? Try writing a fucking book.     ...
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THE WORD OF GOD, THE BARK OF A DOG

  “Before quitting the scene of his brutal butchery, looking first in at one window, then at the other.”-George J Mastin       Now we stand before the second canvas. Each canvas looks like a different sign painter tackled it. This artist’s hand is more skilled. It is an interior scene, the dying young George, the baby is draped in his sister’s arms. Streams of red paint run down his creamy white bedclothes. His head is gently cradled,(Christ like) by Helen Holmes, standing safely behind the locked raised panel door. Julia and Helen’s eyes implore each other, over John Van Nest’s body propped against the wall. For the moment they are safe. But wait! Bill’s still there, LOOK! Behind the window- again the racist, rolling white, google eyes, and obscene grin, luridly intruding into the room, seeking more victims, phallic spear raised……   Helen Holmes (victim) sworn: “I was at the house of John G. Van Nest the night when he and his wife and chi...
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THE BADGE OF HIS DEGRADATION

“The prisoner at the bar gentlemen is an interesting object. The badge of his degradation covers his body. Born and reared in poverty and ignorance; a friendless stranger, the fortune of war, I believe, threw him upon our shore and a day of misfortune brought him into the employment of David Conklin and through him into intimacy with Mr. and Mrs. Teed.”- Henry G. Wisner to the jury.        Having been privy as a child to first-hand oral history of my grandfather Wray Osterhout, and grandmother Mary Ethel Jennings, who were children when cattle were still driven down the dirt road from Cochecton to Newburgh, I have a basic perspective on anecdotal local history, but that’s as far as it goes. They didn’t talk much about their past, preferring instead to enjoy a comfortable present, and promising future. I know my grandfather grew up dirt poor and only received a sixth grade formal education. I don’t think my grandmother graduated from high school either...
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