The Actor Lee Marvin

This replaces an earlier version here.

Lee Marvin was a drunk, it’s said, 
with a temper like a dog, a man
who could be hard to love, but was.
It’s also said one night he drunkenly refused 
to be driven home from the set 
of Point Blank, sat on the car
while his Director drove him almost there,
until stopped by a highway cop, who
asked if he knew that Lee Marvin,
the Actor Lee Marvin, was on his roof.
This story has been claimed by two people.
He said he drank to keep the dark at bay,
to cancel out the things he saw and did,
still fighting across Pacific islands.