Closing Pandora's Box

Oh, to be like LouLou--

Tragic combination

of innocence

and allure,

Everyman's dream,

the MadonnaWhore.

Every man--

but not Jack.

He knew the drill--

The good girl

bad girl shuffle--

Jack definitely knew the drill

and it didn't include

tacky vaudeville shows

or shabby cabaret.

A girl can dream

of dancing shoes,

but best not open the box.

Walking the wire

night after night,

in search of an image--

a long lost battle

for self and soul,

Life was killer--

until Jack.

miss ashbery

—for john ashbery

schmoozing with miss ashbery
the future poet laureate—
of the sinking empire of neo…
just ask the nytimes about it,
they know everything about
everybody anyway don’t they?
just ask mr. david kermani—
miss ashbery’s business manager
about the future of beltway
glory and muse deification.
arranged by chance of course—
by pulitzer prize committee
plus harpercollins inc.
we’re meeting this morning
the nobel prize queens say—
the announcement is imminent.
it’s written in the stars above,
you can run but you can’t hide.
the macarthur foundation
certainly agrees: you and i are
suddenly giddy with possibility—
that what walt whitman was
trying to tell us is true:
merely being here now, dears,
means something; that soon
we may touch, love each other,
even get married for gawd’s sake.
no more don’t ask don’t tell—
no more jerry fartwell shit and
such buffoonery surrounded by.
a poetry already filled with style,
a style thru which emerges—
art deco weimar renaissance;
pandora’s box opening up once
again in a new puzzling light.
just ask fritz kortner or
louise brooks, my dear…