Hollywood
Polite inquiries were made
in which women claimed
no consent,
recorded with awful resignation
and denial. There seemed
to be a ring
of tragedy surrounding
the frequent lunches
and shopping trips in town:
well made dresses with lots of stitching,
graceful high heeled shoes,
and a man who loves pressure,
unwelcome
and detested.
As for magazines,
the standards of pop culture
claimed “genius”
after years of influence,
delighted in every excuse
to indulge.
The legacy of the ladies, most tragic,
was a dormant, tearful
goodbye.
Source: Rice, Anne. Merrick. New York, B Fiction, 2000. 171-179. Print.
Kolleen Carney Hoepfner received her BA from Salem State University in Salem, MA. She most recently earned her MFA in Poetry from Antioch University in Los Angeles. Kolleen serves as Editor-in-Chief of Drunk Monkeys, and is the Managing Editor and Social Media Coordinator for Zoetic Press. She lives in Burbank, California, with her husband and son. Her website is www.kolleencarney.com.