JAMES FRANCO
Film Sonnet
You, Monica Vitti, with your lips, like fruit, how could
That guy in L’avventura be blamed for forgetting
The other pouty bitch? If I got a new life I’d pray for
A girl like you. The island where you lose your friend,
Deserted and mysterious. And then after looking
All over Italy for her, you fall for him. And what is
It that compels him, in the aftermath of that party?
In the destroyed room, strewn with plates, silverware,
Food and candlesticks, he with her, on the dislodged
Couch? And what is it that compels you to let it pass,
Just like you let pass the death of a friend?
A mystery. Like in your other Antonioni film, L’eclisse,
Which ends with a series of unchanging images:
the building, the sky, a fence, a street.
150 The Paris-American
You, Monica Vitti, with your lips, like fruit, how could
That guy in L’avventura be blamed for forgetting
The other pouty bitch? If I got a new life I’d pray for
A girl like you. The island where you lose your friend,
Deserted and mysterious. And then after looking
All over Italy for her, you fall for him. And what is
It that compels him, in the aftermath of that party?
In the destroyed room, strewn with plates, silverware,
Food and candlesticks, he with her, on the dislodged
Couch? And what is it that compels you to let it pass,
Just like you let pass the death of a friend?
A mystery. Like in your other Antonioni film, L’eclisse,
Which ends with a series of unchanging images:
the building, the sky, a fence, a street.
150 The Paris-American
"Film Sonnet" by James Franco copyright (c) 2014 by Whose Dog R U Productions. From Directing Herbert White and used by permission of Graywolf Press. www.graywolfpress.org.
James Franco is an actor, director, writer, and visual artist. Directing Herbert White (Graywolf Press, 2014) is his first full-length book of poetry.
Photo credit: Anna Kooris
Photo credit: Anna Kooris
