Just one Howard Hughes
Just one Howard Hughes,
Feathers he would ruffle,
Learned techniques to use,
Rivals he could muffle
With style, Howard Hughes
Did the Wall Street shuffle.
What enticements led
Him on such a mission?
Texas born and bred,
Howard's expedition
Meant charging ahead
Of the competition,
Little urge to be
Thrifty or to ferret
Cash away, for he
Was due to inherit
Lots of it for free,
Death paid up, not merit.
Set his own films loose,
Making claims about more
Movies to produce,
Hell's Angels, The Outlaw,
In that bra of course
Jane Russell stood out more.
Girls queued up to woo
Howard, from that faction
None of them broke through
In spite of attraction,
Hepburn, Harlow too
Found no satisfaction.
And vast planes with wings,
He was their creator,
Taking on the kings
Of flight, not much later
Piloting the things
Thrilled the aviator.
But an oil leak dashed
Hopes, his plane sped falling
To LA then crashed,
Fuel tanks blew and sprawling
Three houses lay smashed,
Howard burned while crawling.
Pain seized every joint,
Ruined by implosion
Shattered bones annoint;
Out of the explosion
Came a turning-point
That induced erosion.
His moustache was grown
To conceal scars vainly,
Crippled, still as stone,
Feeling downcast mainly,
Time to think alone
And consider plainly.
Slowly he became
More and more reclusive,
Dodging hacks whose aim
Was some big exclusive,
Howard's favourite game
Was staying elusive.
Not a speck of dirt
Could be tolerated,
No desire to flirt,
Bearded, long-haired, fated,
Soon this introvert
Withdrew isolated.
Lost in mental halls
Wearing mental armour,
Howard's hermit cause
Mixed the perfect karma
To cement the walls
Of his psychodrama.
Vegas quarantine,
Served by those recruited,
Hotels for the clean
Tennis-shoed and suited
Ghost in the machine
Where no germs polluted.
Why not, if you can
Smile, relax and spend less?
Why live as a man
Paranoid and friendless?
In fame's twisted plan
This enigma's endless.
High as kites he'd muse,
Deep as the Pacific,
Beyond dreams and news,
Beyond what's horrific,
Just one Howard Hughes:
Rich, unique and mythic.
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