Norma
by Fern G. Z. Carr
She is Norma Desmond –
prima donna,
bygone star of silent film
I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.
her past – a silver screen memory
her present – a delusion,
a comeback
This is my life! It always will be! Nothing else!
a descent down a spiral staircase,
arms swaying snake-like above her head –
Salome dancing the Dance of the Seven Veils
All right Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.
crazed eyes
blinded by the cameras,
the stage lights and
those wonderful people out there in the dark
her light
fading with the sunset,
her star
No one ever leaves a star.
extinguished
along with her youth
and past glories.
* Lines in italics from Sunset Boulevard