There could never be a silver bullet
for poor Miss Scarlet O'Hara.
Just imagine what a heart stopper
that end would have been, leaving
her dandy Rhett Butler to take his
southern comfort elsewhere,
to drown his sorrows in bourbon
and coke down at the Blue Lagoon,
pretending he was trying to forget
his sweetest young angel's kiss.
She was like a bad habit, that one,
a knockout but a troubled lone star
used to dreaming about some French
connection on whom she could turn
a single eye like a gimlet, boring in on dry
red lips for a chance at that Parisian
fool's gold. Every gentle Ben for as far as you
could see would fall for her, always on
Cinco de Mayo, when she, dressed up in black
velvet, batted those long lashes like
the femme fatale she put on. But she'd invite
no cowboy back to her Casa Blanca
draped in Spanish moss, never travel to
Chicago to talk emu export
at the Mercantile Exchange, or let full sail
in the middle of some hurricane.
Nobody'd ever deny what a Georgia peach
she could be, this stinger who'd spend
her last golden nugget for a chance to set
Rhett one old-fashioned fire in the sky.
© 2011 Maureen E. Doallas
_______________________________
This poem is a response to Donna Vorreyer's Poetry Tow Truck prompt "Have a Drink on Me" at her blog Put Words Together. Make Meaning. The prompt requires the writer to use at least three of the phrases found in this list of drink names but to use them in a different context, not as the names of drinks.
Posts
13 comments:
Wonderful--- do hook up w/dverse today, prompt's on color and you'll love Victoria's discussion on color in art! A true sashay and tour d'force of image and involvement of the senses in this--
used to dreaming about some French
connection on whom she could turn
a single eye like a gimlet, boring in on dry
red lips for a chance at that Parisian
fool's gold. Every gentle Ben for as far as you
could see would fall for her, always on
Cinco de Mayo, when she, dressed up in black
velvet, batted those long lashes like
the femme fatale she put on
the ref. to emu export cracks me up-- I know people who went bust on the llama boom-- you can't give them away around here now and then took up emus for reasons that utterly baffle me! xxxxj
I always enjoy your poetry, Maureen.
Great poem. With all the colors mentioned, you should post it at dVerse Poets, too -- the prompt today is "colors."
Very amusing and deft, Maureen--some of the names on that drink list were hilarious--my favorite being Milk of Amnesia. Your poem stays faithful to the inner O'Hara, while taking her for quite a lively spin. Lots of fun.
ha...set sail in a hurricane just to set that flame for her rhett...i have not seen that movie in forever...a fun romp maureen...
Very clever - you used so many!
when i was in film school, i learned that Rhett was just an alcoholic...shattering isn't it?
Terrific use of the drink names, laughter all the way through. From your words, I get the impression you think the same way I do about Miss O'H: a thoroughgoing bitch!
I always enjoy your poetry too! One of my favorite books, and you capture the essence of it perfectly. "Bad habit" for sure!
I don't know many names of drinks, but I do know that I like to feel a poem has layers, and the unexpected word choices and oomph of this narrative, with its spirited heroine, made for a lively read.
This is quite rich and lively, Maureen! I like the language a lot, and the contrast of the silver bullet and Scarlet's fool's gold. Excellent response to the prompt!
I adore the trip through the "movies" no one else mentioned. It was like my life at the movies in review and I don't think Gone With The Wind was anywhere near my first movie but it was shown in probably it's first re-release when I was a child and my mother and aunt took me and hmmd and ahhd through it leaving me baffled. I must have fallen asleep in the second half waking up for the child's fall from the horse and being afraid of them for some time after.
Your work here is deft and clever. I loved it.
Damn this is clever, Maureen. I love how you wove in the cocktails and somehow created a spot-on thumbnail sketch of Scarlet. And all the art-associated links you have listed on you blog will definitely draw me back here again. Thanks for linking to the prompt, and thanks, Jen, for inviting her.
Post a Comment