Painting by Edward Hopper
CELEBRITY
Snapped for immortality
playing harmonies
at a time
in lights of a crazed world
that moves us
at a jazz recital
open to praise or derision,
in a club without
smooth mirrors
made flesh in human shapes
with a critic’s
double features
in the back of the bar
always two -faced
making ultimate legends
if he chooses you
to be a celebrity
accompanied by nights
of wretched desire
in a memorable time
of dizzying applause
then in lonely hotel lobbies
rooms eventually
all look alike
under the imaginary world
starry and discolored
reworking improvisations
between night and dawn
from the black and blue
in depth of the spotlight
wishing for healing
of an uninjured hand
that is still open to affection
and closer to a fix
than on the last stage
without a microphone.