'The Secret of Her Clothes' is a poem I hadn't read before, but it's quite exquisite in the way is evokes, 'in the language of nylon and cotton', the teasing elegance of the unseen woman who wears them, along with the speaker's immense desire for her. I especially like the unrestrained tone of excitement in the final lines:
Beautiful women, yes, but I find when looking at the images more of my consciousness is taken up by the photographer and makeup artist than by the subject. An exception is Marilyn Monroe, which may be a part of her greatness -- she transcends all that with a sort of inexplicable beauty that controls, rather than being controlled by, the camera, photographer, and costume.
I have read that when she was sitting around the set waiting to be filmed, people often didn't notice her, and some who did didn't realize who she was. But as soon as she got before the camera, she was transformed into Marilyn Monroe. Film makers sometimes talk about the camera "liking someone." The camera certainly liked her.
I have also read that some of those old black and white studio stills of film stars were retouched by physically altering the negative with techniques that are now lost.
There was something different about Marilyn Monroe, no doubt. She was also quite the bookworm, a philosopher, and not a bad poet in my opinion. For instance:
I could have loved you once
And even said it
But you went away;
When you came back it was too late
And love was a forgotten word.
Remember?
I did a page on her poetry many years ago. Here it is:
'The Secret of Her Clothes' is a poem I hadn't read before, but it's quite exquisite in the way is evokes, 'in the language of nylon and cotton', the teasing elegance of the unseen woman who wears them, along with the speaker's immense desire for her. I especially like the unrestrained tone of excitement in the final lines:
'the delicate rustle of fabric on fabric,
the slightest whisper of telltale static,
electrifies me.'
I just discovered that Franco Decker Photography has published the poem as part of a (mildy) erotic photoshoot with a fetching model:
https://francod.photography/blog/portfolio-item/longing-2/
I took a look. Now, the question is: does the poem outshine the girl and the clothes, or vice versa?
I will leave that up to you, since I'm biased.
I admit to being a longtime fan of women's lingerie!
An exquisite treasure.
Beauty is truth, truth beauty ...
Beautiful women, yes, but I find when looking at the images more of my consciousness is taken up by the photographer and makeup artist than by the subject. An exception is Marilyn Monroe, which may be a part of her greatness -- she transcends all that with a sort of inexplicable beauty that controls, rather than being controlled by, the camera, photographer, and costume.
I have read that when she was sitting around the set waiting to be filmed, people often didn't notice her, and some who did didn't realize who she was. But as soon as she got before the camera, she was transformed into Marilyn Monroe. Film makers sometimes talk about the camera "liking someone." The camera certainly liked her.
I have also read that some of those old black and white studio stills of film stars were retouched by physically altering the negative with techniques that are now lost.
There was something different about Marilyn Monroe, no doubt. She was also quite the bookworm, a philosopher, and not a bad poet in my opinion. For instance:
I could have loved you once
And even said it
But you went away;
When you came back it was too late
And love was a forgotten word.
Remember?
I did a page on her poetry many years ago. Here it is:
http://www.thehypertexts.com/Marilyn%20Monroe%20Poet%20Poetry%20Picture%20Bio.htm
I have always found compassion attractive. For me to lack compassion is to lack a soul.
Boom
I'm glad we think alike.