A Skin-deep Sea in a Fake Heaven
The depths of shallowness are what the stars
Dive into. Starlit deeps make slickness glow
Like Barbarella dressed for sex-grooved Mars,
Or Marilyn with one leg raised to show
The blue pool has not killed her yet. Like Wilde
Intoned: the cigarette is “perfect” in
Its “pleasure”; “exquisite” and undefiled
Because it leaves one unfulfilled like sin
That Hollywood provides, with ersatz thrills
On celluloid and Silver Screen. The schlock
Of Taylor, Marilyn, and Presley spills
Through Warhols, turning glamor prints to chalk
And not ambrosia. Mocking beauty staves
Off glitz, liberating Tinsel Town’s slaves.
~ Phillip Whidden