Recalling "The Conversation"

By Frances Boyle, in memory of Gene Hackman

News broke today that actor Gene Hackman (1930 – 2025) has died. Hackman was a favourite of the Discordia Review editors. As a tribute, we’d like to share this piece by poet Frances Boyle, inspired by his memorable turn in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation.

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Recalling The Conversation

disassembled room
floorboards upended
walls perforated with holes
contrapuntal to the sound
of one man in a rail-back chair
trailing saxophone notes in the dust
to an unseen audience

what is his name, expert
invader, prodder of soft spots    hollows
of private conversations
gadgethound, drinker, lover
of jazz, obsessive
loner in plastic raincoat

who are these people, the couple
he monitors? The slightest shift of emphasis,
just one of their words, mouth soft to ear
—he'd kill us
if he had the chance—rewinds
all his tapes
one red handprint,
blurred dreamscape window,
pristine hotel room
toilet bowl flushes with blood

“Recalling The Conversation” first appeared in Frances Boyle’s 2014 collection Light-carved Passages (BuschekBooks). In 2024, the collection was selected by Doubleback Books to be reissued in a free e-book edition, which can be downloaded here. Visit her website at francesboyle.com.

Frances Boyle is an Ottawa-based writer and the author of three poetry collections, a book of short stories, and an upcoming novel.