Kill Switch

A poem inspired by the duality of Norma Jean and Marilyn Monroe.

Kill Switch
By Kendra Spring Adams

At what age did you finally bury Norma Jean?
Did you shrug off the old when you put on the new
Or did some of her still bleed through?
My guess is, she died along with you.

You never could disguise her
The child hiding behind those eyes
Innocence wasnt lost, it was a glass case
In which you slowly suffocated

No one ever taught you to stand on your own
You just learned to put on a show
And who could be bothered to look beneath the surface
With your clever slight of hand, your elaborate hat trick

When they began to really see you
Just before they glimpsed her delicate fingers
Knotting about your neck
Youd flip the switch

I heard that story, once
On a New York street
You with no makeup, hair covered in a kerchief
Drawing no ones attention

Did it eat at you to feel ordinary?
What did they do to you, those women?
Six years old and already Jean Harlow
Standing on the cutting room floor

Whatever your reason
It was your albatross to bear
Turning to your companion, you asked
Do you want to see me be her?

What a question to ask!
You couldve rivaled Hamlet with that one
Do you want to see me be, was more like it
Because Norma Jean didnt know how to be, did she?

You flipped the switch and there she was
The blonde goddess leaping off of the silver screen
Quavering lips, questioning brows
Head tilting just so

Was it really so easy for you?
Tell me really
Just between us girls,
Was it harder to turn it on or turn it off?

Dont take this the wrong way
But you made a lousy wall-flower
I should know
Im the absolute best

I can hide in plain sight
Vanish in the center of a room
Like a Baggins at a party
You never mastered that parlor trick

Try as you might
You were always the naughty little girl
Hammer in hand at the foot of the stairs
We could do this all summer, hmm?

You said that, then, only you lied
Because you kept trying to flip that switch
You kept trying to turn it on
The glow, the lust for it

The roar so loud
It drowned out the screaming of Norma Jean
Who never could quite handle it all
Not the way you wanted her to

And so you swallowed pills
Flip!
And drank champagne
Flip!

You followed men and you called them Daddy
But they spurned you
Why deal with the woman
When what theyd wanted was The Girl?

But all you wanted was to flip that switch
Because you couldnt decide
On or off
Both enormous tasks, in the end

And when finally
It wasnt a switch but a lever you pulled
Only then did Norma Jean relax her strangle-hold
Drowned in champagne, bloated by pills

Smothered by men who never understood
That you were running from her
Only to wind up side by side on a slab
Twin hands still gripping the kill switch

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Poem
• Poetry
• Marilyn
• Monroe
• Norma
• Jean
• Duality
• Kendra
• Spring
• Adams
• Self-destruction

[Benzer3]

wow talk about a spitting image!!! tribute singer?

[Mezzosoprano97]

@Benzer3 Yes, thank you so much! :)

[Mrpinupboy]

MY SISTER KNOWS YOU!!!!

[Mezzosoprano97]

@Mrpinupboy Cool! Who is your sister?

[Mrpinupboy]

@Mezzosoprano97 Vikki

[Mezzosoprano97]

@Mrpinupboy Yeah, Vikki and I go WAY back! Probably as far as the 6th grade!

[Patrick3183]

It woulda been spookier with a better backdrop and the girl having memorized the poem instead of reading it off the sheet. That said, the girl is gorgeous!

[WonderWomanFan4life]

wow.. you are like Marilyn reincarnated

[LadyAlexiasWorld]

really thought provoking! x

[Benzer3]

@Benzer3 you very welcome