A star is rising...

Birthily-worthily
Baby Brangelina
In-utero presence
Caused quite a stir.

Gynecological
Messianism led
Pilgrims to flock east with
Gold and with myrrh.

Shiloh* Nouvel Jolie-Pitt was born this weekend to parents Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. There’s nothing new or remotely interesting I can say about the cult of celebrity in the United States. All I can do is marvel at how many non-tabloid news outlets sent teams to Namibia to cover “Brangelina” while they (it?) were awaiting the birth of their daughter. I can also bemoan the nauseating trend of merging celebrity names to make one uber-celebrity, thereby further removing celebrities from the status of mere human beings. And I can fear that some celebrities—long considered by many to be American royality—seem increasingly to be viewed with the divinity that historically attended many monarchs.

*After completing this poem, I learned that “Shiloh is generally understood to mean Messiah.”