SUNSET BOULEVARD:
–for Gloria Swanson
On the thin rope between desire and madness
strung above her moldering once opulent mansion
the old movie queen struts over and over
stumbling at times but recovering quickly,
forever to crave the lights and cameras,
those wonderful people out there in the dark,
always prepared for the next close-up,
pistol in hand to hush anyone who’d dare say
the audience left decades ago.
Gloria, aka the great Norma Desmond,
you must have realized how much alike
the two of you. And knew about the rush
of lingering wishes
even as death’s footsteps rapidly approach
from just beyond camera range.