R. A. Allen

FAMOUS LEGACY

If biographers are the authors
of extendable epitaphs,
their successors are the revisionists,
who—for money, and a mention
in the reviews—will retag
your sugarplum eternity
with a barcode of disgrace.
Think Edison and Jackson.
Think Hitchcock and Hemingway.

You’ve had it pretty good:
showbiz tycoon, outlived your foes—
that you know of. We all have
closets, but yours are untraceable—
you’re pretty sure. But what about
that private cruise out of Ibiza?
What constituted consent back then?
And would anyone still remember
St. Barth’s?

So, for tighter control over posterity’s
judgements, you could commission
an autobiography. But then you’d
have to arrange a hit on your ghost.

R. A. Allen‘s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in the New York Quarterly, Poetry Online, RHINO, The Penn Review, The Los Angeles Review, B O D Y, Glassworks, etc. His poems have been nominated for a BotN and two Pushcarts. Some of his stories have appeared in The Literary Review, The Barcelona Review, PANK, The Los Angeles Review, and Best American Mystery Stories. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee, a city of light and sound. https://www.bodyliterature.com/2020/02/17/r-a-allen/