Two Biographers Square Off
On The Stevens/Hemingway "Fight"

 That's not what happened, man.
 
 I've seen all of Hemingway's
 unreleased letters.
 Hemingway writes that he was three sheets
 to the wind that night,
 a ship with barrels
 rolling across the deck,
 the surf pouring through the hold.
 He wasn't looking to join
 Steven's yacht club.
 
 Your bartender who poured
 his story and liquor
 into your version of that night
 wasn't even there in 1936.
 He was serving drinks
 that night across town.
 I know the guy.
 He's as slippery and as loyal
 as an oil slick.
 He'll wash whatever way
 the winds blow.
 
 Hemingway walked over
 to Stevens' place that night
 as a social courtesy.
 Was Hemingway sloshed?
 Hell, yes.  But he knew
 good writing as well
 as he knew a good brothel
 when he spotted
 it.
 
 He put his hand out
 to shake the master's hand,
 tripped, and trying
 to regain his balance
 threw his paw
 around Stevens' neck.
 
 Stevens slipped, broke his jaw
 and poor Hemingway
 got a bad rap
 for pummeling an old man,
 a smear campaign
 that's followed him
 all these years,
 a rap that guys like you,
 with your own boy
 to push, Wally
 Stevens, won't
 let go
 of.