BETH

Beth by Alex Gildzen 

RICHARD CARLSON GIVES

ELIZABETH SHORT A CHARM BRACELET

Vine St clings to her

like the dahlia in her hair

his convertible cruises toward

that intersection of dreams

it seems this nite

will go on forever

& in a way it does

because I remember it

just as I won’t forget

the glitter on her faraway grave

nothing in the horror movies

he had yet to make

wd shake our ground

like those rotogravures

of that empty lot

full of her parts

UNFINISHD PLAY 

set:
a '40s ice cream parlor (stolen booth for booth from the late C.C. Brown's)

time:
a moment of the imagination
floating somewhere between the mid '40s & mid '50s

characters:
Beth   (who looks like Elizabeth Short)
Jimmy   (who looks like James Dean)
soda jerk   (who looks like Percy Helton)

Beth sits alone. it's a summer afternoon but she's wearing a black dress & a hat. even tho the place is empty she looks around. seeing no one she brings a finger to her mouth & fusses with a tooth. she hears a noise & snaps the finger out of her mouth.

Jimmy lopes into the place. when Beth sees him she smiles. he moves his right hand in a small semi-circle then slowly approaches the booth & settles in. Beth continues to smile. Jimmy looks sullen.

________________________________________________

over the years I've written a few speeches for this play but I've lost them all. of course the woman known as the Black Dahlia was murderd in LA 2 & a half years before Dean moved to LA. but for decades these faces have been LA to me. so in the play I bring them face to face to discuss the urge for fame & the premonition of early death.

it's a 2-character play except for a brief moment when my favorite character actor appears to ask their order. Percy is Hollywood of that period. he adds layers to the play as once again he is Everyman.

________________________________________________

the play that won't finish itself came back to me this afternoon when I read Todd Moore's new essay. in his mind Dillinger lets Todd touch his gun. in my mind Beth keeps asking me to put her pieces back together.

I've spent at least a half century considering Short & Dean & Helton. each means something different to me. yet it seems natural that I shd bring the trio together in one piece. if I ever complete it I'll dedicate it to Todd whose staccato lines slap the dictionary out of my hands.

Todd & I have had many desserts together over the years but we've not been to Hollywood at the same time. C. C. Brown's is gone. but we cd walk past what's left of the Florentine Gardens. the smell of the dahlia wafts down from its neon sign. & if we wear the shoes without holes we cd keep walking all the way to Griffith Observatory where Dean & a knife made movie history.

"dreaming the dream." Beth & Jimmy both did. & their halting dialog keeps playing in my head. so I dream their dreams & they become mine.

9 june 08:SF

exact location where the black dahlia's body was found- 1/15/ 2011

exact location where the black dahlia's body was found- 1/15/1947

LOOKING FOR THE BLOOD

OF ELIZABETH SHORT

for Todd Moore

the walk

from Florentine Gardens

to Boardner's

is quick

on a quake afternoon

the pavement

she walkd

is gone

now names of stars

she never knew

are buried

in a dazzle

like the glitter

on her grave

her name

isn't there

but her shadow

prowls Hollywood Blvd

forever

there is blood

& then

there is blood

her blood

one of the great

vanishing acts

of the 20th century

her pieces

the first step

toward stardom

tour guides tell

busloads

which buildings

she may have

lived in

more buildings

than suspects

in her killing

each new book

finds her blood

in another place

all that blood

vanishd

but her pieces

still there

immaculate

on Hollywood Blvd

between Florentine Gardens

& Boardner's

29 july 08:SF

“Richard Carlson Gives Elizabeth Short a Charm Bracelet” is from the work-in-progress The Arrow That is Hollywood Pierces the Soul That is Me.

“Unfinishd Play” first appeard online in Arroyo Chamisa & “Looking for the Blood of Elizabeth Short” in Outlaw Poetry.

posting courtesy~ alex gildzen~ santa fe/antebellum correspodent