For Suffrage and Gilded Wings, by Rebecca Weigold

Midnight Angel, by Lorette C. Luzajic (Canada). 2019. Click image for artist site.

For Suffrage and Gilded Wings

with the pop of flashlamp she steps out
of limousine leather   1921 marmon
under roving lights   marquee letters
escorted into the tivoli   enveloped in marble
gold   bronze   silver   sinking into velvet.
lights fade   curtains part   the actress
appears on screen to grauman’s score
seen   not heard
from opening frame   to curtain close
to house lights up   to applause.
she exits into night’s blue arc   burst of
deco moon   flattery of flashpowder
hem dripping gold threaded beads.
at the speakeasy
with Gloria   Mary   Lillian   Pearl
they toast her premiere and
the nineteenth   of last year
with ceremonious swills   in satin glove
the emergence   from celluloid and
projection booth   of filtered wishes
the portal   from silent era.
the silver sheet chronicles
the shedding   of shackled beauty
for suffrage and gilded wings
bold headlines declare   crowds shout
critics proclaim   She is free to speak
She is free to vote   She is free
She is.
​
Rebecca Weigold

Rebecca Weigold’s poetry has appeared in Tipton Poetry Journal, The Tishman Review, BlazeVox, Winamop!, The Skinny Poetry Journal, The Ekphrastic Review, and other publications. She lives in Kentucky. We are grateful for Rebecca at The Ekphrastic Review because she generously donates her time to take care of growing our Twitter presence online.  ​​