Mae Being
the outrage
at her success
was matched by the publicity
the outrage
brought her success
how dare she
a woman
write like a man
use men
the way men used women
the obscenity
of carnality on stage
was too much for the male
powers that be
when she wouldn’t back down
they shut her down
sent her to prison
sentenced her to becoming
the top box-office draw of the decade
despite being a woman
yet her success
didn’t silence her censors
it only made them more eager
avid
to teach her a lesson
to be obedient
to shut her mouth
watch her words
or they would snip the words
so only the censors heard them
so she
took her money to the bank
& bid the public
good bye
One of the last plays I saw on stage was Mae West’s Sex at the Shaw Festival: https://topoet.ca/2019/09/21/mae-brechts-sex/. Re-reading my review Make the production sound better than it was lol – it was ultimately disappointing in its lack of performance energy.
During the 70’s I was somewhat of a Mae West fan. I had poster of her – hands-on-hips, her sequinned, form-fitting dress glittering &, I think, a giant feather boa over her shoulders. A deliberate choice on my part to appear heterosexual. I read a couple of biographies, loved her double-entendres – Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me? At the time I didn’t realize this was a tell-tale sign of being gay lol.
At the time I hadn’t actually seen any of her movies. TV fare in Cape Breton was quite limited & we rarely got such scintillating oldies. Clark Gable yes, MaeWest no. I didn’t see many of them until I picked up a box set of her films – which I enjoyed but time sure have changed. I didn’t see what the fuss was about. Yet even today being open about enjoying sex leads to judgmentalism. Pleasure being deemed as less authentic, less ethical than suffering.
Today I wonder if Mae was as sexual in her private life as her persona projects. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out she died a virgin, a very wealthy virgin
TOpoet 