Freda Kahlo’s Cry

by Laura Solomon

Today the ghost of me attended
My own exhibition at the Tate Modern.

All those paintings on display,
The ones that I laboured over for so long.

The sickening part was the merchandise.
Coffee mugs, calendars, prints, clocks
all with either me or one of my paintings thereupon.
Somebody’s making a pretty packet
and during my lifetime, I was as poor as a church mouse,
living hand to mouth.

At least I have achieved a form of immortality.
I hang on many walls.

Nobody ever seems to bear in mind,
the price I paid during my lifetime;
my nerves of steel
my shattered spine.

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Laura Solomon has an honours degree in English Literature (Victoria University, 1997) and a Masters degree in Computer Science ( University of London , 2003). Her books include Black Light, Nothing Lasting, Alternative Medicine, An Imitation of Life, Instant Messages, The Theory of Networks, Operating Systems, Hilary and David, In Vitro and The Shingle Bar Taniwha and Other Stories. She has won prizes in Bridport, Edwin Morgan, Ware Poets, Willesden Herald, Mere Literary Festival, Proverse Hong Kong and Essex Poetry Festival competitions and was short-listed for the Virginia Prize. She has had work accepted in the Edinburgh Review and Wasafiri (UK), Takahe and Landfall (NZ).