Would You Stay If She Promised You Heaven?

A “Past Imperfect” Adventure…

Image by Author, created in AI based on a vintage photo of Ziegfeld Girl Myrna Darby, circa late 1920s. And that’s just the beginning of the cavalcade of random facts that flavor the twisted fever dream that follows. Brace yourselves.

At first glance, this appears to be an image of the Muse that eventually inspired Stevie Nicks to go into her vagabond-gypsy/possible-witch musical phase. In reality, this is just a poignant study of a very sad woman who was unable to master the craft of Cat’s Cradle. She is on the verge of composing a tragic poem that will minutely detail the depths of her pain, but her wistful pensiveness is interrupted by a commotion coming from stage left.

Stevie Nicks, clattering on scene in that bohemian way she has, with gothic jewelry clanking: “You better stand back, girl. That’s MY look.”

Sylvia Plath: “Your look? I had that whole cooking mishap when you were only 14. You were barely old enough to have breasts, never mind a style.”

Stevie: “It doesn’t matter. I have a copyright on the image.”

Sylvia: “Really? I thought the only copyright you had concerned lines of white powder.”

Kurt Vonnegut, entering stage right: “Did someone say copyright? Those things can be really pivotal to the plot in darkly twisted fiction. Like this post. And like the fact that I published a book named Cat’s Cradle in 1963.”

Sylvia: “I remember that year well.”