A Vacuum Perceived

A vacuum perceived requires a fix.

It may not be a real lacuna but

The fear that it might be results in tricks

Of golden surgery.  The star must strut

As if there were no fault.  No plastic knife

Will do the job.  A golden one cuts best.

And if an actor chooses the wrong wife,

A new one will be pressed against his chest

Beside the scarlet carpet at the next

Awards.  A super someone is compelled

In every way to stave off being hexed

By ordinariness, boringness quelled.

..A Caravaggio is hired, it seems,

…. To paint new starlets in limousine dreams.

Phillip Whidden