Monday, February 11, 2019

Love For Sale




image from simple.wikipedia.com


Love For Sale

“Hollywood is a place where they will pay you
a thousand dollars for a kiss, and fifty cents
 for your soul.”--Marilyn Monroe.

Audrey Hepburn liked to kiss.
Marilyn Monroe did not.
Tony Curtis once said:
Kissing Marilyn is like kissing Hitler.
She was a sex symbol
only on the outside;
that’s so sad.

Snowshoe rabbit has
only a camouflage; hawk’s talons
give the kiss of death.



Glenn Buttkus

Quadrille

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub

18 comments:

De Jackson said...

Goodness, Marilyn's quote is chilling. So well used here, Glenn. I like to think that she just saved her softness for somebody real, not for the screen.

brudberg said...

I agree with De... to kiss on command is not really a virtue.
I'm sure there were those that she kissed for real

Jane Dougherty said...

Marilyn was a sad figure altogether. If anyone had found her softness and cherished it, she wouldn't have ended like she did.

Misky said...

Naughty Tony Curtis to say such an unkind thing.

said...

She was probably pissed he was messing up her lipstick. ;)

Sanaa Rizvi said...

She was certainly a force to be reckoned with! Such a powerfully written quadrille, Glenn!❤️

Jade Li said...

Powerful rendering all the way around that evokes a lot of feelings while reading it.

robtkistner said...

That might be T-Curt, but I would've loved to have tasted those lips...
"The talon's grip is mighty mighty
Get's your neck it's nighty nighty"
I think we need to ask JFK how those luscious reds felt!
Liked this Haibun Glenn, especially the power of the haiku.

Merril D. Smith said...

I'm writing a book on sexual harassment right now, and so I wonder how much MM had to endure. Maybe she didn't like Curtis. I imagine she liked kissing people she wanted to kiss. Curtis was going for a cheap laugh.

Were you thinking of the Cole Porter song with the title?

Maggie C said...

Anyone who has read Marilyn's poetry would realize that Tony Curtis had no clue about her.

Kim M. Russell said...

That’s a Marilyn quote I hadn’t seen before. She hid her intelligence and inner beauty under a bushel of glamour and didn’t really let anyone in. She was a tragic soul, neglected and often abused by the men in her life, and I'd like to think that someone understood her. I have a soft spot for her. I love the haiku, Glenn!

Anmol (HA) said...

Oh, that Marilyn quote sets the mood and tone perfectly to all that you have to say. The haiku captures it so well — I feel that sharp twinge of pain with those "hawk's talons". A sad and yet powerful haibun!

lillianthehomepoet.wordpress.com said...

Whoah!!!! I just sucked in my breath, literally and audibly, at the end of reading your 44 word haibun here. Wow! I've always thought the story of Marilyn Monroe a very sad one. You've just nailed it here....and especially with the haiku. Wow! Just WOW!

Vivian Zems said...

Your poem is a reminder why I joined dverse. I learn something new each day. A great write (I wonder how dark Marilyn's life must have been).

Frank Hubeny said...

Nice contrast between Hepburn and Monroe. I didn't know that about either.

Katie Mia Frederick said...

“Hollywood is a place where they will pay you
a thousand dollars for a kiss, and fifty cents
for your soul.”--Marilyn Monroe.

My how Times have
Changed A Public
Dance Hall A Place
Where Bootie Dances
Are Gifted
to Strangers
Just
For Fun..
What Kisses
What Love What Fun...

purplepeninportland.com said...

Poor Marilyn. She must have really been cynical to come up with that quote.

Frank J. Tassone said...

Marilyn Monroe exposes the rot beneath the veneer. Your imagery portrays the bitter truth of her insight exsquisitely!