Sta.sh
Her skin of powdered rice paper
the scent of rotting orchids,
a drug-induced Noh dancer with
slowly writhing limbs akimbo-
silver-gilded girl of the moment
at the factory that turned out
Monroe silk screens, and porn
to the drone of a refrigerator,
from asylum to the Big Apple,
the apple of her father's eye
and of his desires, she'd sleep
among the gay lovers, pretty boys
with erotic names of exotic birds,
knowing she was safe for a while
as they quarreled among themselves-
who'd bring her chocolate shakes,
and chauffeur their princess
to her doctor's for injections
(she was too much a lady to do it herself)
until her fingertips became match-heads
setting fire to hotel rooms,
flailing from inside a closet
while bellboys stole her furs-
face of a comatose junkie drawing deep
on filterless cigarettes--
what deeds have you, Edith
what deeds?
But wasn't she fabulous! remembering
back when she and Suky spent trips
screaming from an open convertible
through the San Marcos Pass,
their bright scarves trailing kite tails
in the same wind she'd ride her roan
along the spine ridge of Rancho Laguna
with no sense of dominion, and the land
with its wild fires that went on for ever,
where the ashes of her brothers
and their self-possessed
and possessing father of eight
had been far-flung blown, and one day,
so too would hers, in the valley of Santa Inez.
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Edie Sedgwick (1943 - 1971)
Youthquaker of 1965, Warhol's underground superstar at his NYC factory with the silver foil walls, the Girl in the Black Tights. And the fine actress Kira Sedgewick is related to Edith as her niece.
Noh - Japanese classic theatre
*Suky - the youngest sister
Rancho Laguna - the 6,000 acre family ranch
San Marcos Pass, and Santa Inez Valley - near Santa Barbara, California
You don't see dedicated use of repetition in a lot of pieces, the double use of "apple" was a choice I really didn't care for, however that double use of "possess" in the last stanza is an exceptional success.
Some sexy rhyme in the fifth stanza, that was nice. The linebreaks seem pretty smooth throughout the piece, although the sixth stanza could use some work in my opinion - "ciggies?"
Nice work, a good read.
Thanx!