Among the Madelyns

Imagine a Hubble of our spirit world where all the images
of us are swirled like galaxies, spangled and unfurled
across the heavens of remembrance like The Cloud.
We’re in one now, just half-way through –
a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad world
aswarm with millions of multi-Madelyns
reproduced in paint or costume, clad or bare;
in selfies, groupshots, candids, posed with care
amid adorers, our Gaia of the FaceBook
makes us all into a cargo cult,
mediaviatrix of the public edge,
rollerskating in to manifest delight in painted skin,
headpiece feathers, striptease dance, a grail
of flaming hair and endless smile,
then flies off, as gods are wont to do.
Such dazzle. And still the mystery of her keeps on ghosting through.

For Madelyn on her 50th birthday, 2019