1996

Dream as Greer Lankton


Artefacts: New York Times obituary  ‘Greer Lankton, 38, a Sculptor Who Turned Dolls Into Fantasy’, 25 November, 1996. / Slides and Negatives. Sub-series: ‘1987 Wedding of Greer Lankton and Paul Monroe’. Various captions.

November 25th 
Greer dreams
A black and white sheet of newsprint
Held up to the winter light
Deadnames firmly fixed up there
Watery sun from the kitchen window
Rising behind the stacks and fire escapes
Pushing through from the reverse side
The names she was given 38 years ago
She laughs
Howling at the cheapjack
Grimcrack
Times
Idiotic authority
Swapping out that open invitation
That reach, arm stretching
Ball cruising on an arc from the mouth into the water
Sound of leaning out over the edge of a pier
Sound of multiplying futures, radical Queer
Sound of deliciousness in pulling on tights, sheer
Sound of the uncertainty in the eye
The what-what of what she’ll do next
The hot falling fear
Instead
Putting back the abrupt ending
Egg, peg, beg, dreg
And the term particularly apt
To denote a person’s qualities or affinities
Dragged up too
Wedged between first name and surname
She screeches
Can’t help herself, clean forgetting the neighbours
At the ridiculousness of that fucking paper
At least it’s three extra words onto the three hundred, and five
Section B
Page seven
National edition
Notice 

November 26th
Greer dreams
Of chatting with David
With their arms linked
Max wearing a brown suit
Peter in a dark sweater and beige scarf
Pappas wearing a tuxedo and holding up a camera
Closing his eyes
Holding up a cigarette
Paul in soft lighting 
Feeding her a bit of cake
Sitting and holding up a large kitchen knife in dramatic lighting
Holding up a potted plant
Holding up a large mask
Holding up two boxes from Tiffany and Co.
Opening a gift in a red box, smiling, blurry
Teri and Patrick mid-kiss
Now with Teri and Patrick
In a storage closet, smoking, making faces
Stephanie, with her arms around Patrick
Friend with purple hair
Another friend with red hair
A woman with long brown hair
Young woman in a sparkly gold dress, looking over at someone else
A guest, who is that?
Wearing a red dress and smiling
Nan smiling
Hugging a friend
Embracing a friend
Kissing a friend
Looking up and beaming a smile
While
Paul unwraps the gift
A lamp
Out of green tulle