The Glue Factory

~ Mia Pharaoh

Photographer — Aaron Siskind

 

The Glue Factory
Grenades and Landmines


She was doubt,
And she knew it.
Yet, in her heart
She was always more
Than the counterculture image
Of a hundred Warhol glances.
An “It Girl” lookalike,
Deteriorating
Becoming invisible
Abrasive hands
Slowly eroding
With a menacing tone;
Time: winter’s ice
A mirror for reflection.

When the rain arrives
Where do the Papillons hide?
And why,
Do they break wild horses?

 

“The very things I might have given in to, that demanded, that said, this is your life. I mean, this is your only way to survive, are the things I fought hardest to end. ‘Cause I believed in something else. And um, what makes that sane is that I can understand other people’s situations in their own terms, but ‘they’ still can’t understand mine.”
— Edie Sedgwick


Mazzy Star – “Into Dust”                                                                                               .      .

 

Copyright © 2015 Mia Pharaoh.

 

137 thoughts on “The Glue Factory”

    1. Meg, I hadn’t thought of her in a long time, I saw something during the week that make me think of the entire crew from The Factory. Thank you so much I’m really pleased you liked this. Hope you’re having a terrific day! ❤

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    1. Thanks Rob! I agree such an icon. She did have some history with Dylan, I kind of question how great it was was, especially if you listen to, “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat”. Also I read, “Just Like a Woman” was written about her too, both on “Blonde on Blonde”. Wishing you a great Monday and an entire week for that matter! ~ Mia 🙂

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  10. Ahhhhhh, Miss Copper, Miss Cranes….shall I count the ways that you impress me…I should have guessed that you loved Edie. Believe it or not I also love Edie. Beautiful tribute to the ultimate It Girl. Question: was Warhol the last great artist.

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    1. Edie was the ultimate It Girl, and her background is fascinating, wow, that’s a who’s who and who done it for sure. Well I do believe Warhol, is the all time King of Advertising, he even set the standards for today, having to look at his standards of yesterday. Did you like the line, “Of a hundred Warhol glances”? As he is also the King of Repetition. Thank you Mr. Cake for such kind words always. ~ Miss Cranes

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      1. I have a soft spot for Andy even though he was cold, the ultimate voyeur and he had zero talent for narrative. He was prophetic, the careful constructed persona was an absolute masterpiece, bland vapid Andy and his dead on comments. I love the line, love the poem, love Edie, so I am gushing and that’s not a thing I do often.

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      2. I am sending you a link from a very early post concerning Andy Warhol-I read on some advice on successful blogging that it should not be depressing—well I have blown that one.
        Marilyn Diptych 1962 Andy Warhol 

        The ‘Soft’ Death of Marilyn Monroe. Standing in front of him as she dressed, Karen Novotny’s body seemed as …
        Stars of The Atrocity Exhibition: Marilyn Monroe
        the atrocity exhibtion,marilyn monroe,jg ballard,andy warhol,jackie kennedy,pop art
        https://cakeordeathsite.wordpress.com/2016/02/11/stars-of-the-atrocity-exhibition-marilyn-monroe/

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          7. Still the writing is brilliant, I am re-instating the pictures now, for some reason they have vanished. I did four, marilyn, B. Traven, Liz Taylor and Ronald Reagan. Thanks as always for your suppost.

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  11. Mia, getting old sucks unless you are able to keep your spirit. At least that what I thinking after reading your latest. For some reason, I also feel like it could be describing Earth. Maybe I’m reaching, but it’s fun trying to find connections to everything in your writing. “Time, winter’s ice:
    A mirror for reflection,” is my favorite part. Have a great week. -Chris

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    1. It certainly does suck, that’s when you need your spirit the most! You’re right, sadly, Edie Sedgwick, the “It Girl”, was not so lucky. That’s the only way to stay forever young. I’ll take my chances with birthdays, let them keep on coming.

      Thank you Chris, those are some of my favorite lines too! Have a great week as well.
      ~ Mia

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  12. I really love this Mia, especially the title which to me is the perfect analogy for the sad fate of many a young filly (It Girl). This summer I read the biography of Hollywood It Girl, Clara Bow, which was similarly fascinating and tragic. This is a haunting and lovely presentation. Have a wonderful evening Mia! – Lola 🌺

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    1. Lola, I’m delighted that you got the filly/horse reference, really sad. I think there are some individuals that are so beautifully fragile that they are easily broken, as is the case with both Edie Sedgwick and Clara Bow, but that’s just the short list. Thank you for such kind words, and I’m very pleased that you liked this effort. Wishing you a wonderful Tuesday under an amazing sky. Take good care. ~ Mia 🙂

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  13. Hi Mia, I know very little of the counter culture outside of a graduate project many years ago that involved immersing myself in Timothy Leary’s personality indicator, (no LSD in the Mexican desert, but some Yukon Jack late at night) I read up on Edie Sedwick thanks to your fine piece here. You have written a “Candle in the Wind” only better. Taupin would be jealous. Have a great Tuesday. Daniel

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    1. Hi Daniel, I wonder how Timothy Leary got away with conducting some those drug experiments, other than the fact that some of the psychedelics were legal at the time. Yukon Jack, whew, some strong stuff. 🙂 Edie’s background is truly sad, a lot of money, yet seemed to lack the essentials from her parents and other family members. I think just like Marilyn, these fragile beauties (candles in the wind) are far too delicate to exist in the realities of a harsh world, and it can’t be easy being an icon. Thank you so much for your very kind and generious words Daniel. Wishing you a great Tuesday as well. Take care.
      ~ Mia

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  14. Ah, Edie Sedgwick. What a tragic story. There was a film, was it Factory Girl? Not sure what it was called, with Siena Miller playing Edie. It wasn’t all that it should have been but it attempted to shine a light on her narrative. Beautiful write-up, Mia 🙂

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    1. Thank you Nathalie, for your kindness. I believe it was called the, Factory Girl. I’ve not seen it. In some ways her life way truly magical and in other ways most tragic. Thank you again, I hope you’ve been enjoying your Tuesday and are having a wonderful evening. 🙂

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    2. Nathalie, please accept my apologies for my delayed response to your other comment, which by the way is absolutely wonderful. I want to reply in kind, with no interruptions, which will be later this evening. Thank you. ~ Mia

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  16. Love the post and comment thread on this, Mia. I learned a lot!☺️Your last question is provoking. We do have the urge to conquer nature in all her forms. Yet, it is the call of the wild we so often yearn for.

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    1. Hi Michael, thank you for your kindness. Did you learn a lot? 😉 I’m glad that you liked the last question, it leaves me wondering, why do “they” damage or hurt the things (wild horses) they can’t have or understand? I hope you’re having a terrific week. ~ Mia 🙂

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  17. Wonderful imazination.rains r not for Papilons;there r no narts to break d wild horse.i admire ur good wishes for ‘IT GIRL’.marvellous.i will reply more as my new post.

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  19. I like this part:
    “Becoming invisible
    By abrasive hands
    Slowly eroding away
    With a menacing tone”
    I don’t seem to know anything about Edie Sedgwick but I can imagine this happening to someone’s life. I like yours and Michael’s comments about wild things and our want to break things we can’t be. Very true.

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    1. Thank you Vic, I’m pleased you liked that part. I think it’s sad about breaking things, we’ve all run across this in our lives.

      Edie Sedgwick was associated with Andy Warhol during the 60’s, starred in a couple of his films. She died tragically at a very young age. To everyone looking in she was “It”, for her looking out, I don’t think it was that pretty. I think her quote gives some insight into that, where she says, paraphrasing here, “I understand other people’s situations, why can’t they understand mine?”

      Thanks again Vic, for your lovely words. I hope you’re having a terrific evening and have a great day tomorrow. ~ Mia 🙂

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      1. Oh, I see. Yes, I think a lot of things are like that. SO different from the outside than from inside. I liked her quote and that’s what I got from it too.
        Thanks, I hope you have a great day too. 🙂

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        1. You’re welcome Vic. True, some can handle it, some can’t. I remember reading somewhere that she gave so much of herself during a performance, that they didn’t think she could make through the entire season. Thank you for the kind wishes. 🙂

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  22. She’s unsure, but she sees herself as more in her heart. She knows she’s not a print, a conformity one would find in the print/paintings of Andy Warhol. She’s more than the “image of the ‘it girl’ she’s always been though that image is fading away. Time is making itself known as she erodes away and sees her true image in the mirror. When the rain or bad times come, where do ‘papillons’ hide. Not sure if you were referencing the tiny dogs with ears like butterflies, or butterflies themselves. It could make sense for both, rain is difficult for them, but butterflies it would break. And your speaker asks why do they “break wild horse.” Why does society not let them, let people be wild. Why do we all feel the need or the pressure to conform to be like a print, exactly the mirror image of each other. Why cannot our creativity and passion, our existence be outside of this.

    The quotes a great one too. Sometimes in life, people will slot other people into certain spaces and say beyond what they see if them, what they should be according to the norm, they cannot be. But this guy, says he has always fought this. Not to be what he’s expected to be, to be himself. And be unique and different. He can clearly see himself and perspective into others, but others do not see him through the right lense.

    Beautiful poem and quote and they the together so well. You put great thought into your pieces, wishing you well this weekend. It’s a week until Christmas, I can’t believe! Enjoy the holidays!

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    1. Hi Amanda! I don’t know if we’re always labeled by others, perhaps at times we label and limit ourselves. I believe we know in our hearts what our potentials and capabilities are, even though they may not be seen by the outside world. Could it be that our true selves are hidden from the rest of the world? I’m not sure we ever reveal ourselves entirely, where do the butterflies hide?

      I think there’s a special quality to the individual that is a “free spirit” (the wild horse), there’s a beauty found in the imperfect and unique. I don’t know why people some want to destroy or vilify what they can’t have or don’t understand. Perhaps that’s what was so very tragic about Edie Sedgwick life, she wanted so very bad to be understood. I’m really pleased that you liked the quote, it did an excellent job of capturing who she was, and even more her desires to really be known. I love your idea of see through the right lense.

      Thank you Amanda for your kind words, you’re always right there with me, knowing exactly where my thoughts are headed, having a great understanding of my efforts, that means the world to me.

      I know, I can’t believe that Christmas is literally right around the corner. Wishing you a wonderful Holiday Season! I imagine it will be a White Christmas where you are, and more of a beach day here. 😉 Thank you as always for sharing your wonderful thoughts with me. ~ Mia 🙂 ❤

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      1. You’re very welcome Mia. Edie Sedgwick seems liken interesting person. Yes, white Christmas here. We love it (except for the cold) but I think I’d trade you for your beach Christmas this year 🙂

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      1. Sure will keep the groove going! I have done another couple old Velvet Underground tunes..Being in the whole Edie/Warhol vibe. It is so wild, that our minds hit the same paths, that we both are doing the whole Warhol bit, without having communicated too much lately.

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  27. Hi Mia! Just wanted to say thanks again for your lovely comments about my piece, “Fourteen ways to tame the beast,”. On a secondary note, I just searched for contact info. on your blog but cannot locate it anywhere. I would like to ask you something but don’t want to post it openly. Do you have an email?
    Wilde.

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    1. Thank you, Eugenia, for your kindness. You’re most welcome, I’m enjoying your site. I have to apologize, I don’t think I followed your prompt correctly, especially when I visited the other links. I’m embracing the learning curve! 🙂

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      1. Thank you, Mia! ❤
        oh yes, it's wonderful. I so like it . It is like a soft wave over me after a long day… Beautiful. x

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