The girl in the pickelhaube hat
Wore the darkest of mascara
And a bob blacker than that.
Her legs were long and smooth,
Hands clasped at her knee
As she sat upon a stool for some quick photography.
Now, gone is the girl
And gone is old Berlin;
But her grand-niece has the pickelhaube,
And her easy smile, again.
______
for dverse Meeting The Bar--Imagism
marlene dietrich... she's a legend.. i may sing lilli marlen in the pub one day... just haven't got her legs.. smiles
ReplyDeleteLove it!
ReplyDeleteExcellent work with a respectable rhyme. :)
What a great hat name. Who knew?
I really enjoyed this. You make it so easy to picture her.
ReplyDeleteI think I've told you before how I love this old World War I soldier's ballad, as I heard it sung in the folk coffeehouses of my youth, as a sort of folk song..it has that classic quality, once heard never forgotten. Nobody does it like Marlene though...what a beautiful smoky voice. Your poem is a warm look at how some important things may change, yet never really go away, and the image of the lamplight, the hat and the smile is incandescent.
ReplyDeleteMarvelous, I felt that the beauty of the first girl is still present and somehow passed to her grand niece. There's a celebration in that. :)
ReplyDeleteThis made me smile!
ReplyDeleteHeirlooms in body and possessions...
ReplyDeleteNow, is this a pickelhaube?? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickelhaube
I was picturing some very chic little cap, not this! But very interesting, indeed!
Yes, Hannah. A pickelhaube is one of those spiked helmets.
ReplyDeleteA pickelhaube...not comfy but funky, royal, majestic. I want one.
ReplyDeleteVery nice! K.
ReplyDeleteLove this:
ReplyDelete"Wore the darkest of mascara
And a bob blacker than that"
~Shawna
rosemarymint.wordpress.com
Never heard that word before, and it gave the poem a terrific flair! Nice!
ReplyDeletehttp://charleslmashburn.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/black-words/
nice...you learned me a new word...nice capture of her...and the carry forward to her new generation...oh the things we pass on...
ReplyDeleteThat you even know, and can use the word "pickelhaube" in a poem makes me want to rend my garments! Hee hee.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beauty! What a song! She was more than cabaret, she even had a mad fling with John Wayne! Wow, could she hunt and shoot!
ReplyDeletebrilliant use of imagism, SP! ♥
ReplyDeletenow i vant to be alone...
This poem zipped me back and forth through time - the spirit of Dietrich lives on in every brave bold woman, unafraid to wear a spiked hat!
ReplyDeleteLove this one - and new word for Lynn!
ReplyDeleteshe was a mysterious, classy dame wasn't she?
ReplyDeletethat song, and ohhh that song
that made me smile.
ReplyDeleteSmiling after reading this one.
ReplyDelete