KD12

Artifice
(after KD 12 by Kate Durrough)
New art offers a taste of Je n’sais quoi
from eighteenth century Versailles
and we’re peasants in the presence
of some courtly copycat.

The young woman’s poised and confident.
We’re drawn instinctively towards
a black seductive spot upon her cheek
the latest thing in European chic

and her coiffure, sans pearls or flowers
conjures thoughts of what could be
concealed behind its powdered cloud;
perhaps love, Bordeaux and music
heavenly voices acknowledging the rights of man

in le pub. Remember, this is all in French
absinthe and seditious whisperings
of Gauloise cigarettes more world
than we can represent, speak of or reject.
From Fleur de Lys to Sacré bleu
a map of Paris could be useful here.


© Paula McKay