Now Hiring

[Hayseed Huck]

Miss Prudence Piedmont, CEO,
taken by new girl Sally Gwen,
ogles-- Oh! that cadmium cape,
saffron hat and plastic shoes.

Piedmont is curious, yes.
-- Dear, you smoke cigars?
Piedmont’s daddy said in 1910,
-- Let’s sell railroad cars."

Piedmont reads the resume,
clears her throat, taps her feet.
Done! Sally’s hiring is complete.

-- Piedmont Company Policy
(may I call you Sally, Sally Gwen?)
reads full of this, full of that--
benefits all clear and stated,
where she pees, hangs her hat,
when to take a smoke and tea.

Miss Prudence is not nearly thin;
Sally too, not a pound lighter
than she had ever been--
but enough lanky nylon knee
to fix Piedmont’s gaze--
the way Sally waits to raise
a leg and crosses over,
under a terpsichorean grin.

An ophite tortoise tray
holds silver rings for ears--
chrysoprase to dance aside
Sally's blushing face.

-- I give certain of my female
employees, these. Piedmont girls
get double time—choice to decide
our gambit’s hour, and where.

Mimic sighs, tender motel hours
flags Sally’s sudden revelation out--
admits, after careless toss of dress,

-- I am curious, Miss Piedmont--
yes.

HH

[dizzydoll]

I love this poem, its perfect. :nod:

[hillwalker]

We are all curious, Miss Piedmont.

A wry game of cat and mouse, very skillfully drawn by dabbing brush-strokes of detail here and there rather than giving the reader an all-singing all-dancing demonstration of what is really going on here.

Like DD I love this poem and it gets better with each reading.

And I love some of your latest crits blazing through the forum like wildfire. You are a breath of fresh air.....

[dizzydoll]

I am amazed there havent been more responses to this excellent poem. Perhaps cos it was too far down to be noticed....

So back to the top, to see fresh eyes. :wink5:

[hillwalker]

If we are indeed trawling the banks of LitNetters past, here's one I remember discovering and enjoying shortly after I joined

[dafydd manton]

Impressionism in action. I really liked this!