Poppy, and: Marilyn Diptych
- Poppy, and: Marilyn Diptych
Poppy
The flower clampedunspeaking before lunch,
its weird alligator-jaw-furledblazing-pink gulletwadded up with tissue paper,
then opening
I wish I'd stayedto watch you
time-lapse photography revealinga channel Thirteen thingcrashing into aira monstrous bloomteetering on a swizzle stema sudden sunlight overdoseof Little Shop of Horrors proportions
but I was in the other room whenthe poppy openedjust like, in reverse, your heartclicked closed in the nightwithout sound, without smell [End Page 91]
Marilyn Diptych
After Andy Warhol, Marilyn Diptych, 1962
a face moving backwardsinto historyyellow hair, pink skingrwying whitefade gone
her curls categorizedin fifty slick technicolor morgues
her mouth a plush redprecision fading to blur
and aqua-sashed eyelidsechoed by arched brows
I think of offstage fleshthe bra gripping her sternum
features stamped ongelatin halos labeled feminine
I think of the miniaturized Marilynalive inside me:a microchip navigatingmy hand toward lipstick
makeup color-blockingthat red aperture mouth [End Page 92]
the way it wasall her, never her [End Page 93]
Carolyn Wilsey loves living within walking distance of the continent's edge. Nature, art, relationships, and life's mystical qualities inspire her to write poems. The recipient of an MFA in creative writing, fiction, from Emerson College, her work can be found in Pretty Owl Poetry, Rogue Agent, Stirring, and The Virginia Normal, and is forthcoming in West Marin Review.
