Hitchcock Asks Tippi to Star in The Birds — Shari Caplan
Maybe I model, but I do sweat
when a movie mogul slides a black box
across at Liz Taylor’s favorite restaurant.
Order the chili, he commands,
massive hands a temple mid-table.
In the box a murder of solid gold
crows, fused at the feet, can’t gossip,
each biting a genuine pearl.
His lower lip quivers Starlet.
We eat chili. I cry for the first time.
Yes. His wife needles the birds
onto my shoulder. I’m your girl.
***
Shari Caplan is the siren behind Advice from a Siren, published by Dancing Girl Press in 2016. Her poems have swum into Gulf Coast, Blue Lyra Review, Deluge, Drunk Monkeys, Non-binary Review, and elsewhere. Shari’s work has earned her a scholarship to The Home School in Hudson, a fellowship to The Vermont Studio Center, and nominations for a Rhylsing Award, a Bettering American Poetry Award, and a Pushcart Prize. A wearer of many tophats, she has produced and performed in “The Poetry Circus,” “The Fairy Tale Poetry Walking Tour,” and other cross-pollinations for the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. You may encounter Shari as “Betty BOOM, America’s Sweet-tart” giving intimate readings across the nation as part of The Poetry Society of New York’s “The Poetry Brothel.” She also acts passionately and works on the Development Team at AIDS Action Committee. Keep up with her at ShariCaplan.com