Dance prance
Twirl swirl
Head held high
Hair rich with curl
Dance for the king
The emperor too
A flower in the wind
A beautiful view
Dance for supper
It's your only meal
Dance when told
That's the deal
Dance like a flower
Bending in the breeze
Dance every day
You'll never be released
Xxxxxx
Image by Virginia Francis Sterrett
Linked up at real toads.
Your use of repetition - both sound and word - enhances the rhythm of the dance.
ReplyDeleteThere is a rhythm to your words that fits nicely with the theme. Nice write!
ReplyDeleteYes! The rhythm here is unmistakable! Very nice ...........
ReplyDeleteI like the dance rhythm of your poem, too, but the last line left me sad...when I was young I didn't like the totalitarian power of kings and queens in fairy tales, either, and some part of me still can't get past it.
ReplyDeleteK
exactly Kay, and yet in our perceived freedom I don't think we really are whilst we follow the call of greed and worth to stay on the treadmill
DeleteThe flow of the poem is lovely... but this also felt like a commentary on women's lot throughout the ages. At first, it's all "Dance, dance, twirl..." and then it morphs from observation of their movements... to the fact that they are enslaved.
ReplyDeleteThis hit me in my protofeminist heart, and I wonder whether that was part of your process? Pls. let me know if you visit my blog, OK? Thanks, Amy
I was thinking about all of humanity in our greed ridden world, women, men and everyone. so yes, you've got the enslaved right but the issue is bigger :)
DeleteEmma, thanks for stopping by my blog, too, and for addressing my question. I agree - the issue is the whole world, and I tend to comment only on the narrative at hand. Glad I saw this deeply into your poem, which needs to be viewed more widely.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully sad.
ReplyDeleteYour poem reminds me of an old saying "dance or pay the piper". I, too, love the rhythm of it and the observation.
ReplyDeleteOh a woman's lot. We dance and twirl to the music of a man to be forbidden our freedom...
ReplyDeleteYour repetition works so well with the theme of your poem. Nicely done!
ReplyDeleteI like the second stanza.
ReplyDeleteNicely done, catching them in the dance. Reminds me of jewelry box ballerinas and "Red Shoes" and a bit of Buffy Ste Marie's "Horse on a Carousel."
ReplyDeleteA fun poem to dance to as well!
ReplyDeleteA merry dance, indeed. :)
ReplyDelete