Allison Whittenberg

THE VAMP

her dark hair short,
confused, with Louise Brooks,
Lya de Putti, Hungarian born
silent era actress
danced and went nude, per request
studied English for the talkies transition
but died to Hollywood
long before that chicken bone
could be removed from her throat

the cruelty of a factory that lures
promising eternal sunshine
yet, slaps with a backhanded
compliment in Cabaret
and, a handful of bubbles,
glistening and gone.


Allison's YouTube reading of "The Vamp"


Allison confesses: "Drawn to this subject, overall, I have never seen a Lya De Putti silent movie or talkie. I know her only of her penciled-in eyebrows and her underdrawn lips from stills."

ALLISON WHITTENBERG is an award winning novelist and playwright. Her poetry has appeared in Columbia Review, Feminist Studies, J Journal, Obsidian, and New Orleans Review. Whittenberg is a nine-time Pushcart Prize nominee.