Lyrics held falsetto
Linger in the larynx
 
And syntax dissolves
Into pitch and tone.
 
Relics from behind barbed
Fences clutter the kitchen:
 
A sepia photo,
Creased faces, catalogued
 
Forearms, etched forever
With concertina wire;
 
A dingy medal, clipped
From its tricolor ribbon;
 
Letters from a fiancée
On her endless way to France.
 
(First published in Eclipse: A Literary Journal)

Marlene Dietrich on the Radio
By: Les Kay