#372 BACKSTORY OF THE POEM “Duffel Pantoum” by Denise Duhamel.

From LEFT to RIGHT: Denise Duhamel; Susana H. Case, and Margo Taft Stever

Gladys holding baby Marilyn Monroe with a bag on her shoulder.

Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? Yes! When I read about Marilyn Monroe’s early childhood and the trauma she suffered, the image that stuck out to me most was her birth mother, Gladys, trying to kidnap her from a foster family. The image of Marilyn (then Norma Jean) wiggling in that duffel bag was so womblike and terrifying.

Marilyn Monroe, age 3, with her mother Gladys at the beach.

Click on the link below to read about Marilyn Monroe’s mother Gladys Pearl Baker

https://allthatsinteresting.com/gladys-pearl-baker

I chose the pantoum for the poem because of the repeating lines, the way trauma upon trauma built up in MM’s life.

Denise Duhamel’s writing space. Credit and Copyright by Denise Duhamel.

Where were you when you started to actually write the poem? And please describe the place in great detail. I wrote the poem in Florida, in my apartment, which overlooks the sea. The boardwalk nearby has a lot of MM memorabilia which I would pass everyday as the poem was gestating in my brain.

What month and year did you start writing this poem? January 2021.

Were there any lines in any of your rough drafts of this poem that were not in the final version? And can you share them with us? There were rough drafts but I no longer have them since I composed the poem on my computer and edited as I went along.

Denise Duhamel’s view of the Hollywood Beach from her writing space. Credit and Copyright by Denise Duhamel.

What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem? I wanted to situate MM as a full a person as possible given the limited stories we have about her, to remind people she was more than a sexual icon. She loved poetry.

This is Marilyn Monroe’s favorite photograph of herself.

Which part of the poem was the most emotional of you to write and why? The first stanza…I think the image of a three-year-old MM in a duffel bag was difficult. I kept thinking of all the amazing children in my life.

Has this poem been published? And if so where? Yes. I Wanna Be Loved by You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe, Susana H. Case and Margo Taft Stever, Milk & Cake Press