DISCOVERY [ EXCERPT ]

___________________

Patrolling the street

On the Brooklyn beat

Wasn't enough for

Jerry Tibbs.

 

The married N.Y.P.D. officer

On some days would shed 

His dark blue uniform & wore

The sable one he was

Born with.

Just a man enjoying his spare time,

His busy hands worked a camera.

 

On Coney Island's 

White sandy beach,

He found her.

A Southern transplant 

Curious about her 

New Northern home.

 

His eyes saw

"Model" in her

Straightaway.

 

His clicking Kodak©

Truly loved her

From the start.

 

Stance per stance,

Pic per pic,

Tibbs' work seemed

Ready to be shown.

 

Then again, he thought

Something had to be

Done about his subject's

Already movie star looks.

 

Jerry Tibbs talked her 

Into wearing short-cut

Bangs with her long ebony hair.

 

Cass Carr took her

Picture again and again and they 

Sold well in Manhattan nightclubs.

 

And the shutterbugs

And the barflies

They knew why.

 

The playful 

Pale lady

Many have seen

 

Cracking a whip like a dom,

Tied with rope like a sub,

Taking a bubble bath in vibrant colour,

Dancing seductively with her partner

A stuffed clown doll in grainy black-and-white,

 

Splashing happily in water

On Miami Beach shore,

Gracing men's magazine covers

Dressed in a leopard print skirt

Or her famous black lingerie & nylons--

 

Men back then wanted to date her,

Women right now want to emulate her.

Bettie Page, Queen Of Curves

Would've never

Lived that title

 

Without being guided in the right direction 

By two Black men

 

Virtually unknown,

Totally unsung.

 

_______________

W: 11.3.16

 

[ From the book Discovery, Southern Arizona Press, 2024. ]