Death of an Actress

She was all smiles and

Personality

A cute little thing

A shame she didn’t have the look

For movies, cause with charm like that

She just might make it

She came in at 3

I took her as just another

Come to collect her disappointment

Asked the standard questions

What kind of movies

Are you willing to do?

Are you comfortable with nudity?

It’s art, really

There’s a script and everything

And you could watch that tiny glimmer of hope

Turn into a steely resolve

In her gray eyes, I could’ve sworn

They were blue before then

Before the color died when

She realized the truth of her situation

Across the coast from

All she’d ever known

With a bag of clothes and

The leftovers of a desperate loan

See, everyone works their way up

From this, everyone has to earn their way, and if

You’re willing to accept the cost then

We’re willing to grant you the pay

So many hearts I’d broken with this speech

So many dreams have died right here

And almost instinctively, I reached

Into the top left drawer

And pulled out a bag of coke and said

You’ll need this to forget that

We’ve turned you into a whore

She said, you’re all guile and

Certainties

But I came from a family that

Did just this to me, I came here

To leave, not live in the same squalor

They kept me, so keep your drug

I’ll keep in touch with you

By proxy of the silver screen

And smiled, and showed herself the door

And on her way out, I whispered

See you in six weeks, I’ll keep this in the drawer

Until then

I never heard from her again

Assumed she couldn’t cut it in

Hollywood and left, well there’s your story and

I’ve got three more interviews to get through

And three more dreams to kill

So if I’m not being charged

I’d appreciate it if you’d depart

The same way she did

Satisfied with my answers and

Certain to find something more

Somewhere else

We’ll be in touch, here’s a card

In case there’s anything you forgot

I wouldn’t leave town without

Notifying us

We take these sort of cases quite serious

And off they went

With nary a breath spent

On cross-examination

Had they checked my drawer

They’d have seen she came back

For the coke

They’d have asked where she went

If not home

I’d have told them I didn’t know

It’s not like I hadn’t had to

Lie through my teeth before

And maybe she wouldn’t be so

Easily forgotten, maybe we wouldn’t keep on

With our business

Here in the shadow of the stars

Where we all play our parts

Though admittedly few

Cost more than ours.