“
I first imagined each moment separate,
inspired, consecutive. I could have cast
the film—myself the female lead, you
the star. I wore color—magenta. lavender,
lime. You were in white, something textured
that moved with your body. The music
was sensuous, full orchestra scored for harp,
piccolo, twelve double basses, a chime.
The premiere, well-attended, prices high.
Those who didn't like it find little
to like in this world. The critics,
through careful eyes, decided
our performance was fresh, the location
on the cliff above the ocean a splendid choice
on someone's part, the humor warm.
But time extracts. After the blast, the slow
boil, the few grains cupped in the palm.
The orchestra was really scored for wind
and pelican, the dry flick of lizard.
The lily, with petals like white tongues,
appeared from nowhere, and the gull remained
stone-still. as gulls do not do.
The costumes were too simple: sun and salt
on skin, and the actors kept changing roles,
crawling into one another’s lines, saying
the wrong words when they spoke at all,
finding it hard to think in vertigo,
their love clouded with a retinue of men
and women, former actors who wanted the parts.
The critics made no sense of the film,
double-exposed, sprocket holes on either side
and a garbled sound track that wove ‘always’
and ‘never’ into one word. The beginning
appeared in the last scene, and the climax
was a whorl of color, like looking too long
at the sun through closed eyelids.
One thing someone found to praise:
a clear shot of a shining feather
lying on a stone in the path.
”
”