Marilyn

I suppose it had to happen
later or sooner
given a temperament of sentiment
lacquered with cynicism
such as mine

I’ve gone and fallen in love
with Marilyn Monroe,
joined yearning millions,
her viral pheromone relayed
posthumously via digitized celluloid

(a comment on her
transcendent power
or my susceptibility?
you may well ask—
ah, I cannot judge)

As a man, of course
(we’re metal drawn from an ancient forge,
tools in service to an iterative master);
but as an actor, too:
her skills sublime

even in the narrow band they let her broadcast.
Or perhaps that was
the breadth of her repertoire; no matter—
a tune divine enraptures
as sonata or symphony.