A POEM BY PHILIP LEVINE

 

barbie by andy warhol

 

 

 

 

     BARBIE & KEN, KEN & BARBIE


Ken has a big job at Castle Air Force Base,

where the work is challenging and the future

lies on the cutting room table, docile and clear

for Ken, who with scissors unwrinkles its face.


Ken drives to Paso Robles on the weekend

in a sports car that runs on needle bearings;

he takes the turns hard and as he does he sings

for up ahead is the ocean and the sand


and Barbie in a pink negligee, Barbie

waiting in her tall pink pumps, golf clubs ready.

The coast hills are greener than they used to be,

the ocean restless, only Ken is steady.


Soon they'll be together, brother and sister,

Barbie and Ken, sharing a toothbrush, sharing

a toilet, a tub, sharing the same old song

that freezes on their lips, sharing each other


for that breathless moment when the elders

bow to their credit card. Sundays would be hell

what with packing, parting, and the long haul

if brother and sister weren't such good soldiers.



                                ----Philip Levine

andy warhol by andy warhol

 

 

 

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