She is not
a dancer, no beauty, no sparkle resides
in her eyes.
Sloppy skirts whisper no nuances into
the shells of my delicate ears-
She is wet
she is rained on, her hair is the colour
of dirty skies
or wet sand
or puddles.
She stands there, a beggar outside
of the theatre, men spill onto the street
like the gushing of water in gutters
Their glasses gleam gold and refract
the rain and exact
a startled romanticism onto the ground
at their feet.
She stands there. She has not moved, and nor do I
an elegance seizes my limbs: I couldn't
explain why. No dancer no beauty, but suddenly time
has no relevance here. She blinks, she turns
I almost die. She opens her lips, tumbles out words
mumbled and she says 'flowers. one shilling, flowers'
and suddenly suspension ceases, I see the creases
around her face
toss pennies, more, and then look away
but as I walk, as I turn aside
there's a rustle, like silk, like cyanide
hissing, and the woman (who walks
like the queen of the world
and gazes like she knows the most beautiful word
in the lexicon of love,) shoves past and knocks
my rabbit-skin gloves
on the ground.
I bend. Pick them up.
Walk on.
Author notes
Beautiful Words: Gentle, piercing, blossom, chime, effervescent.
Title: Frou Frou is the phrase the french use to describe the rustling sound of the dresses of the dancers at the moulin rouge. This is the story of the woman who stands outside, begging: with a frou frou of the soul. My favourite colour is the colour of the text in this poem....
A contest entry
- A Moment in Forever by Nephlim.
600 points, ended June 16, 2008, 22 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
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this is rich in words and rhythym.
I think you've done a great job of capturing the essence of the times. It does rustle in fact. Wonderful use of word and image.
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I really like the words you put in your wordbank
. And thank you for following the rules! ^-^.
I love the images you put in here, and the emotions, pity with reserve, almost emotionless, as if the narrator were far off, but still was close to everything that was happening. Good luck!
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