Poetry: Louise Brooks by Tracey Herd

SPLIT Screen (Red Squirrel, £6.99) is an anthology of poetry inspired by films and television.

Amongst verse about Doctor Who, Clint Eastwood and the Milky Bar Kid, you can find Tracey Herd’s tribute to silent cinema star Louise Brooks. The actress was famed in her day for playing Lulu, the heroine whose sexual allure destroys both herself and her admirers in G W Pabst’s Pandora’s Box (1929). Her independent streak led to Hollywood blacklisting Brooks, and in later years she suffered from alcoholism. Although Brooks made only 17 films, the intensity of her performances – and her iconic bobbed haircut – ensure her lasting fame.

Pearls strung around a neck

of marble, lustrous beads

hard and pretty: the hair is black,

the lips rubescent. Ghost men feed

on these painted curves, define

a role you played with vigour, silent

vigour. The eyes are cool and sane.

The mood is violent.

• You can borrow Split Screen – Poetry Inspired by Film & Television from the Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Edinburgh EH8 8DT. Tel: [phone], e-mail [email protected] or see www.spl.org.uk for details.