Literary Orphans

Lana Turner in Ascension by Rodd Whelpley

Dear Mr. O’Hara,

My apologies for the late response. Herewith, this.

 

Lana Turner in Ascension

 

To be frank, it is we that laid you low –

passed you out, amidst the booze

and bennie-laced vomit on the carpet.

 

Perchance to meet there

Kings Lear, Cambyses, Oedipus

and any number of noble motherfuckers

 

Who will tell you you are down,

not just for that Mafioso boyfriend

or five husbands or mis-parented daughter.

 

But because

you are known and beautiful,

as few of us can ever be.

 

And down because

collapsed is where all of us

will also one day be.

 

We love you, Lana Turner, for what we

can do to you.

You must get up.

 

Because Dickie Nixon,

and Lindsey Lohan, and Miley Cyrus,

and any number of Kardashians.

O Typekey Divider

Rodd Whelpley is the secret poet in residence at the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency, where he also runs an electric efficiency program for 33 cities in the state. His works have been published in such magazines as the Chagrin River Review, One Sentence Poems, Aethlon, Allegro Poetry Magazine, Long Dumb Voices, Eunoia Review, Spillway and Tinderbox Poetry Journal.

Whelpley_image_for_Web

O Typekey Divider

–Art by Kaia Pieters

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