Shrill whistles pierce the country calm
as peacocks flounce florescent tails.
Imprisoned in their corsets, ladies
with wasp waists faint in parlors.
Gentlemen prance prettily in periwigs
on high-heeled shoes with big brass buckles.
Chinese women of quality hide crippled feet
in 'Lotus Shoes' of lace and satin.
Beauty weeps behind a barbed-wire fence
because the alley cat wears a golden crown.
Cinderella's sister cut off her toes:
blood seeps out of the glass slipper.
Brash goldenrod has gone sedate.
Goya's hag looks for youth in her hand mirror.
Grateful Lois, girdle-free, celebrates
the utter collapse of the crinoline.
Lois Read
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-peacock-s-tail/
