The paranoid great
movie queen
Sits idly fully
armed
The powder and
mascara there
A warning light for
charm
We see her every
movie night
The strong against
the weak
The lines come out
and struggle with
The empty voice that speaks
Her heart is oh so
tired now
Of kindnesses gone
by
Like broken glasses
in a drain
Gone down but not
well spent
The road from
Barbary to here
She sold then stole
right back
The vanity, insanity
her hungry heart forgave
The fading bride’s
dull beauty grows
Just begging to be
seen
Beneath the magic
lights that reach from
Barbary to here
Her schoolhouse mind
has windows now
Where handsome
creatures come to watch
The anaesthetic
wearing off
Images:
(1) Frederick
Bailey Deeming (1853-92); (2) Walter Richard Sickert, Ennui (1917-18); (3) Eric Ravilious, Persephone pattern for Wedgewood (ca. 1950); (4) Eric
Ravilious, The Wilmington Giant
(1939).
Beautiful pictures to go with this lovely song. Still experiencing after-shocks from hearing it on Friday.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to be talking a walk with the Wilmington Giant on the South Downs, instead of freezing in Boston.
"Stare toward the rising sun and see me stride,
Bow before your mighty lord or carrion birds will sing,
The grey wolf will howl and deeds of woe
Will draw down upon the southern lands.
The dragon will rise from its watery rest to devour all."
I'm experiencing aftershocks also. What an extraordinary performer. The Wilmington Giant painting is wonderful. So is a lot of Eric Ravilious's work. I'd like to find the time to study more of it as well as other interesting painters I've discovered lately through the Little Augury website, which is the work of an interior decorator in North Carolina named Gaye Tapp. I don't know where she finds the time to collect so many things so beautifully. The next week around here should be very event-filled and stressful, but I'd like to think that February might bring some sort of resolution. Mostly I feel like I'm in the presence of lots of shoes that look like they're going to drop but never do. Curtis
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