Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Paulette Goddard (Chaplin at Golgotha)


A modern Salomé, or Magdalene,
getting by on the strength of her grin,
grips between her perfect teeth a blade
to sever banana stems with,
flinging fruit up to the grubby gamins
who beg at the edge of the pier.

He would lie for that smile, do time for that smile,
risk his life, eat his hat, sing gibberish in public 
if it ever comes to that. (And of course it does.)
All it takes is her cherubic face,
that devilish grin
to send him tumbling,
his own weight doing the rest, dragging him down,
though of course he always springs
back to his feet again.

Like her, we come to adore him, 
this twitchy, mischievous cipher, 
this upstanding imp. 
We cannot help ourselves. He is us
when he falls. When he leaps back up
he is who we pray to be.
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11 comments:

  1. Brian MillerMarch 15, 2011 at 2:37 PM

    but would he catch a grenade for her? smiles. yeah i love watching love fell the mighty with a single blow...nice one shot

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  2. Steven Marty GrantMarch 15, 2011 at 2:55 PM

    As usual your unique poetic voice stands out. "grips between her perfect teeth a blade" I just love that image and the tone it sets.

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  3. moondustwriterMarch 15, 2011 at 3:03 PM

    I'm hearing a bit of Ides of March as well in the background

    excellent

    thanks for sharing with One shot

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  4. Brian MillerMarch 15, 2011 at 6:13 PM

    i apprec the crit...i agre on the tightening...

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  5. hedgewitchMarch 15, 2011 at 7:26 PM

    A fascinating write, full of narrative that becomes internalized--liked it very much. This inspired me to read the lengthy wikipedia article on Chaplin, a figure I only thought I knew something about, who becomes now all the more impressive, so thanks for that. The title seems particularly apt.

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  6. dustusMarch 15, 2011 at 7:42 PM

    I applaud how the poem starts out, and it becomes perfectly clear how "he" can get lost in her given the great imagery. However, I found my reading of the last 2/3 getting lost a bit in the pronouns.

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  7. UnknownMarch 15, 2011 at 7:46 PM

    The 2nd stanza was my favorite. Interesting read here.

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  8. Mark KerstetterMarch 15, 2011 at 7:51 PM

    Gosh, is that you almost getting sentimental in the last stanza? But it's hard not to with Chaplin, and he's hard not to like. Do you know the Hart Crane poem Chaplinesque? One of my faves.

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  9. Shashidhar SharmaMarch 16, 2011 at 9:29 AM

    Very interesting imagery here.. with the girl and this impish character and the narrator all joining in to be and aspire to be the kind of him. I liked it very much..

    ॐ शांति ॐ
    Om Shanti Om
    May peace be... pray for People of Japan
    ________
    http://shadowdancingwithmind.blogspot.com/2011/03/whispers-love-and-insignificance.html
    Connect me at Twitter @VerseEveryDay

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  10. Khakjaan WessingtonMarch 16, 2011 at 1:21 PM

    The altered title cues the reader better.

    Can you believe this guy?

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  11. Steve IsaakMarch 16, 2011 at 4:16 PM

    Wonderful work. Love the title.

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