Sport 10: Autumn 1993
The Ten Most Beautiful Women in the World
The Ten Most Beautiful Women in the World
Flying junk, clouds thrown from the tops
of buildings, where we find ourselves
lost between uncomfortable bars, the moon clearing
a patch beneath our skin, a longing
or long arcade where we search our pockets
to find a coin small enough for a rusted slot-
machine, a converted pinball or one-
armed bandit. We have not seen our mother
in eleven months, but have lately found
The Ten Most Beautiful Women in the World
in 3D. A shutter twitches, and night outside
becomes night inside their hotel or
emporium. A coin drops into the upholstered
darkness. The machine's two eyes
staring into our two eyes. Then, faded
into her background, (1) a woman
in a vast bikini, c. 1950, only the pink material
remaining, brighter than ever,
hovering, almost, in space. (2) following: a lime-
green outfit, the colour touched
by hand. A fizzing bulb has faded (4), (5) and (7)
completely. (6) has melted down. Only the
artificial colours remain, these costumes like
flags of modesty. (10) dissolves into milk,
then a shutter snaps. And it is night again
inside The Ten Most Beautiful Women in the World.