The Peacock's Tail Poem by Lois Read

Shrill whistles pierce the country calm
as peacocks flounce florescent tails.

Imprisoned in their corsets, ladies
with wasp waists faint in parlors.

Gentlemen prance prettily in periwigs
on high-heeled shoes with big brass buckles.

Chinese women of quality hide crippled feet
in 'Lotus Shoes' of lace and satin.

Beauty weeps behind a barbed-wire fence
because the alley cat wears a golden crown.

Cinderella's sister cut off her toes:
blood seeps out of the glass slipper.

Brash goldenrod has gone sedate.
Goya's hag looks for youth in her hand mirror.

Grateful Lois, girdle-free, celebrates
the utter collapse of the crinoline.