Of this Art Deco cinema-hotel,
a youngish Orson holds his second wife,
a most erotic black-and-white embrace:
his right hand firmly grasps her pale left arm,
her head tilts slightly back and to the left,
the lips just barely parted with suspense.
The Lady from Shanghai is being shot –
a tale of murder, lust, deception, guns –
and Rita's shorter bleach blonde tresses
are framing her new femme fatale, Elsa.
Her neck and shoulders are completely bare,
an eyelash casts a shadow on her cheek.
She leans back for the kiss and holds her breath,
then tumbles into drink, dementia, death.

Maeve O’Sullivan has published three collections with Alba Publishing: Initial Response (haiku, 2011), Vocal Chords (poetry, 2014) and A Train Hurtles West (haiku, 2015). She performs with The Poetry Divas