Sunday, September 25, 2022

Ange Mlinko

Starred Wire


 It Was a Bichon Frisé's Life . . .

Louisiana skies paddle north nodding hello to some exiles 
displaced by floodwaters so we all putter in the bisque 
in fretted dresses, alleviated by a fan. But we have nothing on 

"Le Matin," in whose rococo frame a curtain sweeps to bare 
a boudoir, a Bichon Frisé worrying something between paws, 
begging the dulcet glance of the mistress whose push-up, 

cupless corset and up-drawn stocking border what they 
fall short of, per the stern frame rippling like a cloud! 
Even the candle angles to get a look in the mirror 

engloving the scene. Why it is her slipper the bitch clutches!   
The gentleman's reverie is elsewhere . . . Loitering 
Louisiana stops to admire this engraving by "N. Lavreinee." 

What a chevalier! It makes the smeariest sunset think 
it's in a Restoration Comedy, in such humidity 
chefs defer meringues. "Ksar Rouge," "Taos Adobe," 

"Gulf Shrimp"—a thousand names of softboiled 
lipsticks fritter English as if it were French, meaning 
meeting no resistance from the flesh.

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