Born poor without schooling, Coco Chanel learned to sing in a cabaret
She learned to sew and became an influential fashion designer in France
Known for popularizing sporty, chic, casual items as feminine standard
Her monogram of interlocking C’s is recognizable to this day
Coco was a prolific designer, first one named by Time as influential
Her jewelry, handbags, hats, sweaters, are all stamped with her monogram
She has left an empire for other designers to strive to work for.
Her fragrance Chanel Number 5 is known as daring and jaunty like her
What if Mona Lisa’s treated like corn?
In multiple forms made and marketed?
From one of a kind and mysterious born,
What if it steals no heart nor turns keen head?
Imagine several shades of dull grey,
And classics that meander out of hands,
What if Sun never sets nor ends the day?
Bouquet that passes hands till blossom bends.
Nature’s art’s not a blueprint of all space,
Nor can be stretched on and on till it yawns,
Art ‘s not a self portrait devoid of grace,
There’s no grace in wildly grown garden lawns.
No, you can’t milk and market art to death,
The mysterious can’t be mapped in one breath.
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Sonnet |05.07.2014, revised Sept 2022|
Poet’s Note: This sonnet was born in response to a suggestion an aficionado (and I am sure, a market buff) made some time back of popularizing old classic paintings by making their prints and marketing widely.