Gender absurdly blurred 

tragically incongruent it click and its clack

teetering on the edge of life but ever taller

 

chic sequins bling as traces kicked

keep on click clack to lose the harness

embrace the antidote to drab

 

trussed up now with danger bound

you have voice so rage be sexy sway those hips

rise or take the fall like stars in Ziggy’s dust

 

delusional grandeur fucked fetishes

murky and obscure the gloom-cloaked pair of shoes

you hobble and swish the parlours tread

 

Emily says hope’s the thing with feathers

how come? no fairy-tale in the back yard

just man animal and bird in mortal battle

 

and meanwhile Maid and Mistress set high tea

trifles laden on the whatnot simple process ardent at five

come up do, and sup with me

 

the snap occurs without notice it’s only a common pheasant 

snap neck snap of fowl, oh so vain snap 

the stench of blood and feathers

 

trivial squawks and light-weight cries

headless now but strutting

tumbling circling round as laughter roars

 

dig out the golden shoehorn

squeeze your monstrous skin calloused walnut hard

into the shoe which pinches harder

 

Carolyn Savidge 2024