Best Garbo Poems
Puttin on the Ritz - Just for You
Remember when I used to be dead broke,
and everyone laughed cause my dreams were a big joke?
Well I married a rich fellow and I’m rolling in dough.
Now I’m puttin on the ritz – it’s time for my show.
Visiting the old neighborhood, I’m sure feeling grand,
showing off my chauffeured Rolls Royce just because I can.
Watch me strut ‘cause I’ve been blessed by Lady Luck;
while you’re still frying chicken for a measly buck.
Oh, forgive me for I don’t always like to gloat;
but do check out my genuine animal print fur coat.
It’s no secret that Neiman Marcus is my main go-to store,
providing me with designer hats, purses, shoes, and more.
As for my fabulous make-up, make-over, and hairdo,
well they cost much more than you earn in a month or even two.
I see you’re ogling my sparkling jewelry and accessories,
Dahling, they were purchased exclusively from Tiffany’s.
Like leading ladies, Lombard, Rogers, Garbo, and Garland,
I ball room dance and jive to Callaway, Ellington, and Armstrong.
My oh my, indeed this lifestyle can make one become so giddy,
while gliding and sliding to these tunes can be quite heady.
I know jealousy is considered really uncouth and uncool,
but in your case, Sweetie, go ahead, it’s actually okay to drool.
Oh please note, my dear, I’m only passing through,
from Lenox Avenue back home to hoity-toity Park Avenue.
So for now, I'm here puttin on the ritz - just for you!
08-25-2015
Contest: Puttin on The Ritz
Sponsor: Judy Konos
Placement: 1st
Awakening early
just before sunrise
to exquisite sounds
of the morning refrain
Blackbird sweetly
offers his love
with his passionate tune
surely making her swoon
How could she resist
this morning opera
each wistful aria
expressing his love
Flying towards her
with hope in his heart
plans are made
a love nest to start
Drawn towards
the sea ~ the sun
I have great expectations
as they become one
A watercolour
is like no other
of pink and red and navy blue
~ another day
~ another hue
Oh how I love to watch her
as she gently rises from the sea
This orange ball
~ spherical ~
puts on her morning show for me
A dark blue cloud
encompasses her
but her beams break free
from this cloudy shroud
As if lighting a stage
she’s the star of the show...
~ a Marilyn Monroe ~
~ a Greta Garbo ~
with just one look
she's
~ Norma Desmond ~
Shimmering ~ Glistening
~ in her gold lamé gown ~
Written 22nd June 2020
Contest Brian's Choice Q
Sponsor Brian Strand
FIRST PLACE
“Life would be so wonderful if we only knew what to do with it. ”
Quote _Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo,
born poor- she was considered a weirdo;
but Hollywood said- her acting skill we can tweet,
because she has beauty ... even though she has huge feet!
_____________________
December 16, 2022
Poetry/Clerihew/Dreamt of Being a Star
Copyright Protected, ID 12-1509-188-16
All Rights Reserved, 2022, Constance La France
Written for the Premiere contest, A Poetry Marathon, Mile 23
sponsor, Mark Toney, Judged 01/04/2023
Fred Astaire was king of tap
Biggie Smalls was huge in rap
Carson (Johnny)ruled TV
Dylan’s songs are poetry
Elvis made the girls all swoon
Frank Sinatra loved to croon
Greta Garbo hid from sight
Hitchcock gave us all a fright
Isaac Hayes’ voice dips low
Johnny Depp steals every show
Kenny G can blow that sax
Larry David can’t relax
Michael Jackson changed his face
Norah Jones embodies grace
Oscar Wilde wrote books and plays
Peter Falk had piercing gaze
Quincy Jones finds music stars
Raitt (That's Bonnie) rocks guitars
Sally Field lights up the screen
Tony Kushner nails each scene
Uma Thurman makes men drool
Viggo’s talented and cool
William Shatner’s still around
Xin Xin Xiong in films is found
Yoko Ono married John
Zach Braff’s big on Amazon
All this talent, A to Z
Keeps us entertained, agree?
for Cyndi MacMillan's ABC Couplet contest
I sat listening intently to the tune the band played
The words the singer sang were the nicest I had heard
Talked about hidden love, about the heartache and disaster
Then I saw him a dashing young man, my heart's beating faster
With down cast eyes I peer through dark lashes
Can see the guy I fancy, dare I do a few ankle flashes
This was so decadent in my day and age
Girls sat demurely smiling, never showing the urge
Saw his eyes wander to where my ankles lay bare
his flushing face showing that he did care.
I saw him slowly walk across the carpeted floor
I quickly rose from my chair went through the door
In the garden he found me, my nose in a rose
Please be careful he said, bees also love those
I smiled, dimples showing gathered my skirt
Tripped gaily down the path, giggling like a flirt
He touches my hand holding it close to his heart
Was when I woke up, with one heck of a start.
I had dreamed I was Garbo in a great film
My leading guy, was the dashing Errol Flynn.
Penned July 14 2015
Dark serene
Alone and together
My world in chaos
Vocational anxiety
Financial sobriety
Yet all matters not
As I look to my right
Gaze at my Gucci
Amazed by her will
Her zest for life
Amidst physical turmoil
A ruthless journey
Made tolerable and enjoyable
By quintessential Alpha Dog
The Puppacino
The Gooty Goooooooot
My Boo Boos
The Salmon Queen
The Pasta Lover
The Yawn to Nose Nibbler
The Camel
The Beautiful One
The Poker
The Chicken Snorer
The Volleyballer
The Silky Coat
The Football Spot on Her Head
The Bird Chaser
The Sniff and Rub in the Grass Girl
The Horsey Dog
The Keeper of 'Head'
The Post-Shower Licker
The Beach Girl
The Mrs. Kisses
The Smoochy Gucci
The Stretch and Plop
The Head Hanging Off the Dog Bed
The Head Sleeping on My Pillow
The Snapping Turtle to Strangers
The Big Sis to Neeka
The Momma to BoyBoy
The Gucci Garbo
The Gallop Up the Stairs
The Trash Picker and Chewer
The Lover of Daddy Gravy
The Scaredy Cat of the Dog Door at the Old House
The Lover of Paseos
The You'll Need an Army to Cut My Nails
The Cancer Survivor
The Toughest ***** You'll Ever See
And as I share one last night
Just she and I
I feel lucky to be nearby
I promised myself I wouldn't cry
As the hour arrives
And soon, too soon
To bid my love goodbye
I will see you on the other side
Thank you, my Gucci
For one amazing ride.
(4/15/10)
suave Baron Felix
world-famous ballerina-
Garbo. . . Barrymore
Copyright © 2018 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.
First published 2018 in Hollywood Haiku via wattpad.com
Valentino , Errol Flynn such stars of the silver screen
Garbo , Bacall and Davis movie stars that all have been
Grace Kelly had such beauty Audrey Hepburn was the Queen
Bogart ,Fonda and and Brando got hearts racing in every scene
Pacino , Redford and Poitier ,James Stewart and Steve McQueen
Elizabeth Taylor ,Sophia Loren ,original divas unforeseen
Generations passed and so do they ,no longer to make me dream
But the stars that gave us so much grace will always be on my screen
Lightening bugs flash,
like the worn celluloid images of old movies,
I sit beneath a great Greta Garbo moon.
I am the heroine of this short.
The dew point drops,
Mists rise.
Crickets chirp.
Muskwats buzz.
Loons ululate and wail.
My dialogue,
The click and whir of my spinning reel.
The glug-glug-glug of the Hula Popper lure.
To prepare for the climax,
Bring out the proven method acting.
I taste the dirt on my fingers,
Licking and twisting monofilament.
The savory sign of night-crawler trails.
Add the bobber, the weight.
I smell the algae and rotting leaves.
The sweet stew of the lake.
My nose tingles from the life motes it captures.
I cast.
This night, I ad-lib.
There never was a script,
No stupid fish.
Fade to Me,
The Garbo moon,
Clever fish,
Loon interlude.
I stand in front of the mirror
Trying to look a dish
Puckering up the lips
Practicing for a kiss
I half close my eyes
For the Greta Garbo look
I don’t look a bit like
the siren in a book
Looks more like I have myopia
Squinting like a fool
How can I look seductive
What's the golden rule
Lips all red and shiny
Rehearsals come to an end
Had plenty of practice
Courtesy of a friend
I stand here by the mistletoe
With what I hope is a seductive face
A wet juicy kiss smeared my mouth
Yuck what an utter waste.
Penned on the 18th December 2013
You just don’t appreciate me
And all the things I do
When I don’t come home until late
I do it all for you
I treat you like a movie star
After two days I call you on the phone
Actually I treat you like Greta Garbo
She wanted to be alone
You don’t understand the sacrifices
That I make each day of the year
Instead of wonderful quality time at home
I spend lousy time drinking beer
Sometimes I stay up all night with a friend
Because she’s, I mean he’s feeling down
You want me to be a more caring person
So it’s for you I’m on that side of town
I hope this will help you understand
Why I do all the things I do
So you know when I’m not home for a week
That I’m doing it all for you.
Just fun and fiction!!!!!
I wish I were a baggage to abandon.
I wish I were a hold-all to un-hold,
With no handle for some bloke to put his hand on
Or to plant a snotty kiss that leaves me cold …
I wish I were a parcel, square and string-tied,
In stout brown paper, not to be un-wrapped;
Inscribed in huge red letters, “DON’T PEEP INSIDE!
Till I’m dead and gone, and cannot be sent back …”
It might be rather fun to be left luggage;
To fashion most exquisite, boring days
With false teeth and umbrellas in West Dulwich,
Or to gather dust in Walton-on-the-Naze …
I think I’d like to be a Printed Packet,
Forgotten on some sorting-office shelf,
With nobody to notice I can’t hack it
And no-one else to hassle … Just myself …
I want to pass my private rites of passage
Simply wrapped up in myself, and “off the ‘phone.”
I really DO wish you would get the message …
Just like Garbo, dear, “I VANT TO BE ALONE!”
( I found the first line of this poem as a typing exercise
on a second-hand computer.
It just tickled my fancy! )
Greta Garbo
by R.e. Taylor
I know you wish to be anonymous
To never be seen again
But the world will not allow that to happen
I know it may be presumptuous of me to say
At one time, you were a beauty beyond compare
A talent that anyone else would only envy
You may have lost your looks and your talent
And you locked yourself away because of it
But Miss Garbo you are still hiding in there
Just look at your reflection and you will see her
And I know that she still loves her fans
So, just once before you die
Come out into the open
Leave your fears behind
And just tell us the good bye you never told us
We may cry but not for our loss
We will cry because we will know you still care
And that will be what we will remember about you
© 2017 Shadowlight Publishing
"Everyone of us live our life just once,
if we are honest, to live once is enough."
Greta Garbo, 1938
so live in tranquility for it is the place
of imagination and reflection
be you, be mellow, be calm
be gentle, be respectful
be pleasant
listen
find harmony
contemplate the infinite
the intricate and spiritual
keep talking and life will be nothing
keep quiet and life will be full in excess
_________________________
October 13, 2022
Poetry/Free Verse/Living Just Once
Copyright Protected, ID 10-1494-230-13
All Rights Reserved, 2022, Constance La France
Written for the Premiere contest, A Brian Strand Premiere Choice
sponsor, Brian Strand, Judged 10/16/2022
A girl in the crowd takes a selfie.
Her tam o’shanter sparkles
because of the fireworks going off
in the background.
At the gates of Moscow
Tchaikovsky runs away
hands over his ears.
The girl with the cell
is as pretty as her friend beside her,
but her friend outshines the tam o’shanter
as if it were just an ordinary beret.
She has sapphires in her eyebrows.
Kids in earshot of adults
‘wow’ or mouth age-appropriate obscenities.
The limp body of a teenage messiah
is elbowed and pushed around by his disciples.
Several rows back, a woman is laughing
as she cranes her neck skyward.
From the chin up, she looks like Greta Garbo,
only she is short and fat.
Rockets fly like fan-dancing ostriches.
The truncated 1812 Overture burps to a close.
My lens can’t capture the woman
or the girl, or her friend
who now shines like a diamond.
I can’t fit all of this into 12 mega pixels.
The night stops throwing cannonballs
at 1 a.m.