A POEM FOR THE WEEKEND

Here at Doc40, it seems we can’t go a month or more without running a picture of Marilyn Monroe. This time, I’ve added a poem by Delmore Schwartz (who was also a mentor of Lou Reed.)

LOVE AND MARILYN MONROE
by Delmore Schwartz
(after Spillane)

Let us be aware of the true dark gods
Acknowledgeing the cache of the crotch
The primitive pure and pwerful pink and grey private sensitivites
Wincing, marvelous in their sweetness, whence rises the future.

Therefore let us praise Miss Marilyn Monroe.
She has a noble attitude marked by pride and candor
She takes a noble pride in the female nature and torso
She articualtes her pride with directness and exuberance
She is honest in her delight in womanhood and manhood.
She is not a great lady, she is more than a lady,
She continues the tradition of Dolly Madison and Clara Bow
When she says, "any woman who claims she does not like to be grabbed is a liar!"
Whether true or false, this colossal remark states a dazzling intention...

It might be the birth of a new Venus among us
It atones at the very least for such as Carrie Nation
For Miss Monroe will never be a blue nose, and perhaps we may hope
That there will be fewer blue noses because she has flourished
Long may she flourish in self-delight and the joy of womanhood.
A nation haunted by Puritanism owes her homage and gratitude.

Let us praise, to say it again, her spiritual pride
And admire one who delights in what she has and is
(Who says also: "A woman is like a motor car:
She needs a good body."
And: "I sun bathe in the nude, because I want to be blonde all over.")
This is spiritual piety and physical ebullience
This is vivd glory, spiritual and physical,
Of Miss Marilyn Monroe.

The secret word is Nembutal