Youth and beauty have left me
a full packet of cigarettes
and this balcony. Time redecorates
my home as a reliquary.
The camera loved me once,
as everyone loves a young woman
of spirit who toys with men
and uses her natural elegance
to get what she wants. Siren
or ingénue, whatever they asked of me
I exuded ‘a carefree, naive sexuality’,
the critics said. Dominique, is that Dorian
at the door? My official biographer
promised to swing by after church
with more questions. He isn’t much
to look at, but he’s my last admirer.