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).
