Eli walking up the hill
one last time; path rutted w/ tracks
from hauling the ******
things down;
he'd done it before & again
the blonde A-Lister waiting
for his return,
in the driveway;
the buggy trotting from the
carriage house behind the main house,
Eli, Jr.
much like his dad,
broad-shouldered
& a little dumb;
but Eli Sr.
has that way of
coming cackling back to life;
in his career he'd done it twice:
he was a movie star now &
just
wanted to keep getting back
under her; Eli thought
he now knew how
westerns were born; did he?
Junior picking up the pace;
beats it
to the highway before the old
man does that weird out of the
dark thing he does; *******
the actress who was supposed
to be his new Muse; Eli didn't
have an old muse; Eli Simple
built barn walls out of paint
that stood on their own; Eli
lighting a cigarette, comes out
of the dark, his face aglow
w/ the burning cigarette tip;
"Was that ur kid?" she asked.
"No," he says, "It was a clone;
I got six more in the barn. wanna
see 'em?"
"Sure."
"Come on. I'll show ya," he said
& he did;
so much time passed that the
bow-tied moon was in a permanent
tuxedo;
seen from the gaping stars;
silver-hands discovering;
signing [eyes] out ;
- transmitting: a cache of folded images
reproduced en masse on crude pulp
paper in vivid colors for the period;
image after
image of various forms
of individual female figures
in exposed positions,
appearing to be lounging
happily w/in
a luxurious paradise belying the urban setting;
"We presume these to be the plans
for the ***-oriented
female robots so spoken of
in the ancient records; i.e., Pandora,
Helen, et al."
"Don't forget Wonder Woman."
"Oh, yes, the Queen of All Women."
The scientists debate before returning to Orion;
should production begin on the ancient forms?
Some guy in a big mansion was giving a party in her honor;
but she & Eli never showed, never left the barn