The summer replacement muse has come a day early,
Settling herself in the kitchen where I find her
Eating a mayonnaise and cracker sandwich
She nods to me, brushes crumbs to the floor
And says “Good news! I’ve just found out that
In 1877 Sarah Bernhardt and William Ewart Gladstone
Had a long conversation!”
The field is wide open for you!” If I could draw this might
Be useful information – something Beerbohmesque
With the thin actress spiraling about to explain life
To the appalled and fascinated prime minister
But I lost my ability to draw years ago.
Words are what I have and a small repertory company
Among whom Sarah and William will have to wait –
I fear for a rather long time – until I write about them
If he’s impertinent to her, Baba Yaga may turn Gladstone
Into a crane but Bernhardt – a dab hand at almost everything --
Will probably, after a while, turn him back into a man
And possibly one much improved over the original.
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