Tuesday 13 September 2016

Illusionists

An exercise in my on-line poetry course is to write a poem based on a picture.
The pic features an old trick- conjurer's assistant suspended, apparently, in mid air.
Fine, invisible rope? Not so- hence the presence of a hoop.
The decor was mock-Eygptian so
I did a bit of research on this type of visual trickery.
I won't be trying it out any time soon.
See links below.


http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item106359.html

ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Hall

Meanwhile here is the poem.



The Egyptian Hall

They loved to watch women
Sawn in half.
Or suspended perilously
On a conjurer’s breath.

You cannot see the metal bar
Behind his legs.
Or the control buttons
At his feet.
Just a moustached man
Tail-coated and Bow-tied

Holding a clipped-
Winged woman
On a metal hoop;
Her breasts hieroglyph-
Bound, her hips
Silk –Tied.

The ideal woman
At his behest.
Silent, rigid.
Rising
Out of her coffin
In mummified
Repose.



Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2016

No comments:

Post a Comment