 |
| Ziegfeld
Girl 'Rose Delores' - by Alfred Cheney Johnston, ca 1920; image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons |
Ghosts
with Plumage
With elegant, bedazzling chic
they sweep the stage in plumed
mystique
each draped in glitter, sequins, pearls…
they are the ghosts of Follies
girls.
Like birds of paradise, in hues
of plum, cerulean, chartreuse,
they captivate the dukes and earls…
they are the ghosts of Follies
girls.
They’re statuesque; they’re full of
grace;
‘though time’s moved on, there’s
still a trace
of perfume, rouge and silken curls…
they are the ghosts of Follies
girls.
At old show houses, you might chance
to catch the swirl of spectral dance.
Chorines' drift by in steps and twirls…
they are the ghosts of Follies
girls.
With elegant, bedazzling chic…
they are the ghosts of Follies
girls.
###
Notes: The form is Kyrielle
Sonnet.
The poem was prompted by the Thirty
by Thirty Challenge theme of 'plum.'
Going on from there, I searched for
a plum (or even a plumage) quote to use as a possible epigraph, and found this:
"I always loved fish for the colors and birds for the plumage. In
the same way, I loved those women of the cabaret. They were birds of
paradise," by Christien Louboutin. I realized that his quote is
really about true cabaret performers, so I didn't use it per se, but somehow,
my mind made the leap to the Sondheim musical Follies, and hence Ghosts
in Plumage.
