I'm not an 'ingénue' anymore - that’s been vitiated.
I'm not innocent, pure, naive or vulnerable -
which are technically, 'ingénue' requirements
(I don’t make the rules).

That being said, if no one has an objection,
in terms of narrative trajectory, I'd like to be
considered a 'fémme fatale' until further notice.
.
.
Songs for this:
HEATED by Beyoncé
Hysterical Us by Magdalena Bay

11am 08.12

Eliot,

I thought you had thrown in the towel 2 weeks ago.
HP, suddenly, went off the air!

Communicated with a few of my HP mates, Nat n' Stevo, Vix in England.....enquiring whether they thought this was so?

The universal horror that HP may be no more hit us all like a brick wall.

Truely amazing what an global impact your little poetry site weilds. What an impact you, directly, weild to a whole spectrum of worldwide creative people.

I'm sure, initially, you had no conception how this idea would mushroom. How much importance we would all place on your continuity to provide.

One day you will die....and with your departing soul shall fly the lamentation of a host of worldwide poetic tragedy, for we will all have lost something of immense and personal value.

My thanks to you for your inspired creation and your willingness, enthusiasm and sacrifice to maintain it.

We would be quite lost and distraught in a world without your unique and wonderful brainchild.

I felt it was important to let you know this.

Respectfully Sire.

M@Foxglo­ve.Taranaki.NZ
17 August 2024

Vintage Chanel lives rent free in my mind
the colors are deep, subtle and magical.
Over time, the originally soft textures,
become luscious, like a lover's caressing touch.

In college, you dress down,
you want to blend in, not stand out
gods forbid you flag entitlement
and draw envy's barbed compliments.

The simple styles bear the twin burdens
of camouflage and practicality.

In Paris, fashion can be capricious,
but elegance is a silent conversation,
with its own intricate vocabulary in drape,
line, fabric and in painstaking choice.

In places where fashion matters - Paris, Manhattan, the Hamptons,
it can signal position, the way uniforms signal authority everywhere.

A splash of fashion can not only have a fabulous effect
on how its wearer feels, it can tell important stories.

I’m told that, in back rooms, where fortunes are awarded or lost,
fashion can announce arrival, rank, and intent.
It can whisper new wealth, in upstart display
or a threadbare, silent duel with mounting debt
.
.
Songs for this:
The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby & The Range
Read Between the Lines by The Bingtones

just ask any waitress
in the diner
still sane.

ask a businessman
locked behind a desk.

ask a cop in jail for theft
or custer
or van gogh

or a child in harlem
foodless and cold.

ask the grey day
evaporated by the sun

just ask.


we all want to burn,
to dance and sidestep
through are own private hells

to hang
upon
a church bell
high above a cathedral
in notre dame
laughing,
in love with the finality of fire.

the fire
is a man with shotgun
standing in a savings and loan

the fire
is a 16 year old girl
in a
short
short
dress
with oh
so
long legs

the fire cries like snow geese
warm
so warm
into this cold winter's night.

this life we love
is but a hawk on fire
flying
flaming
into the sun of our existence...

we want what we fear,
i want the sun


i am burning.