TOO LATE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION

By Ben Greenman

from forthcoming collection, as yet untitled

"I suppose nothing is more surprising than discovering, as we always do, how unlike people are from our preconceptions of them.”  This insight, delivered to a crowded Hawes Ballroom last night by Barrett Koips in toasting the healths of David and AnneMarie Battista, who were the guess of honor at the annual Fence Club dinner at the Glass Hotel, by degrees walked right up to the question: “How should we imagine the man whose contributions to eradicating poverty in the city are equalled only by his immortally lovely songs and the voice with which he delivers them?” Koips continued. “We all know the songs, from ‘Hearts Are Lifted’ to ‘Rooftop Prayer’ to ‘Do Your Part, For Your Part is Never Done.’ Surely, we picture him as a being who floats above the rest of the town, observing us with judicious wisdom and perhaps even slight disappointment, offset of course by his deep love for all aspects of humanity, even its flaws . He has a harp, certainly, and wings, does he not?” Koips paused to sip from a glass of wine. “This was my impression at first and for a very long time before I had the pleasure of meeting David. I was not prepared for this man who sits here tonight: a quick wit with a frequently dirty sense of humor, a sharp card player, a fan of the obscure monster movies, an amateur boxer, a mullet-wearer, a madcap.” David Battista reached down under his chair and  came up with a small harp, which he placed on the table to the amusement of the crowd.