The Letter Poem by Steven Cooke

Dear Marlene………
Sweet heart of the dead
Adored by generations not yet born
Marlene we love you.

Your beauty burned the wings of JFK
And brought big John to his knees
For your love, was meant for more.
You shocked the World with a velvet kiss
An elegant truth in a sea of Fools

It took one voice to start a War,
One bullet to unite false prophets
One woman to speak out
You ostracized the Nazis for what they were.
Stood tall, through treason
Did not follow, Hitler’s Spell
Chose to Love America s freedom instead.

When Reapers scythe came
Song and Compassion was your shield.
It Gave comfort to the damned as shell and mortar pound
Your words a respite, from the fear
And your beauty, a reminder.
That love awaits the Soldiers return.
Back to the German farms and the English meadows
For love knows nothing of war.

You witnessed holy sacrilege,
Saw blind disciples fuel the reapers fire
Both sides, in the name of god,
Oh how heaven must have wept

Marlene you dared to question religion,
For Your soul could see through the flames,
While others perished in mortals Pride.
You Asked god to review his plan.
Only you, Marlene could do that

Where have all the flowers gone
Your message to Humanity,
But the Heinkel and the Spitfire
Flew too high to hear
And the flowers of youth
All Eaten by silent sheep, and taken to yet another slaughter.

Yet be proud Marlene
For Your echo awakened a new generation to peace,
Although lasting peace is like true love, so hard to find,
But never the less, a goal we devote our lives to.
Some countries have found their Peace
While other search.
Humanity is still a child in these matters,
And war still goes on
When will they ever, learn, when will they, ever learn.

Try to forgive us,
Perhaps the man upstairs,
Really does have another plan, Marlene Dietrich,
At least I’m sure that Eternity
Will be a far more beautiful and interesting place
With you in it,
And I look forward to meeting you.

Love Steven
xxxx
Footnote to this poem
JFK relates to her affair with President Kennedy
Big john relates to her affair with John Wayne
The Velvet kiss was the first lesbian kiss on main stream cinema 1930, Marlene was bisexual.
The line where have all the flowers gone and when will they ever learn comes from the song forever associated with Marlene Dietrich.

Brief Biography
Born 1901 in Germany
First film in 1920
Became American Citizen 1937
Awarded Medal of Freedom USA 1947
Awarded Legion of Honor by France
Died in Paris,1992