April Poem a Day Challenge – NaPoWriMo #20

One thing I’ve been trying to write is poems about burlesque performers from the old days – the turn of the 20th century until the 1960s.  I haven’t quite got there; I need a bit more research, I think.  In any event I wrote this poem that sort of gets at the feeling of burlesque.

Red Burlesque by niwanotanuki

Audience sitting in the dark

     anticipation

Dancer preparing in the wings

     anticipation

The music starts

The curtain goes up

Sensual

Slinky

She emerges

Boldly look to audience

Coyly look away

They all know what to expect

Give them some of what they want

And some of what they never knew they wanted

Hit each musical cue with a hip

     Shake it all

The audience hollers

     Shaken all up

The final reveal

     the beauty revealed

Always what they want

Not always what they expect

 

 

 

Be Lovely to Each Other,

Laura

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