23: CHILDREN OF MALLEY

Veronica Malley: Bardot

That's why blondeness hurts -
In every movie I portray
Vulnerability to
Humanity. You've got it,
That's why being
A 'goddess' hurts: the people
Never measure up.
I approach the foam.
I mother in mock
Profile. Dangling,
Reminiscing my in-
Volvements ... It
Doesn't hurt any more
Than being in love (the sea).

VERONICA MALLEY is a retired schoolteacher. She lives with her companion in an inner suburb of Melbourne. Of the Romantics she prefers Byron; she is writing a long work entitled 'Peas and cantos'.

REVEALED!

As reported on Cordite News Explosion, we're moved and astonished to admit that we didn't pick Michael Farrell as the author of this so-called poem."