Transcript |
THE LADY OF DADE
JOx ABAEDQH
The Lady of Dade, Anita by name,
called on a seamster of worldly fame,
Saying, Seamster, Make a dress for me,
That I might seem lovely as a bride to be.
And when he had set her in the height of fashion,
He found her eyes were shot with passion,
Saying, Seamster, Seamster, Look at me,
Lovely as a bride to be,
In my gown of satin laced with silk,
Wilt thou not marry me?
Whereupon the seamster, chuckling, did say,
But Milady, I am a man from the Land of Fay.
Whereon she ripped the gown to shreds
And chided him all day.
The Lady of Dade, Anita by name,
Next called on a fruitman of worldly fame,
Saying, Fruitman, Fruitman, find for me
An orange to make a sweet soul of me.
So the fruitman searched his oranges ripe,
And regarding her as the greedy type,
He handed her the biggest of the bunch,
Saying, Lady, this will make a tasty lunch.
And when Lady Dade had sucked it dry,
He noticed an arrow had pierced her eye,
Saying, Fruitman, Fruitman, look at me,
Am I now tasty enough for thee?
Oh, no, Milady, tho sweet thou be,
the sweeter .fruitman he did say,
For tho I may marry, A Lord he'll be,
For I am a man from the Land of Fay.
Whereon she spit the seeds from her throat
And scolded him all day.
The Lady of Dade, Anita by name,
Then called on a minstrel of worldly fame,
Saying, Minstrel, write a song for me
That I might a dame irresistable be.
Whereon he wrote an amiable tune
Of birds and bees and a winking moon.
And as she warbled it three times seven,
She saw the first stars appear in the heavens
Saying, Minstrel, Minstrel, look at me,
Aren't I a nightingale meant for thee?
And he answered, Oh Milady, you've been fooled today,
For I, too, am a man from the Land of Fay.
And cursing the minstrel and his devilish tune
She hysterically stormed away.
Hitchxking and meeting
two guys who take you
out for jokes
and laugh at your drinks
and beg you with
innuendo3 and piteous gazes
to be their sensual fantasies
to be their dreads
but never be too real
and never be human
They beg you with soft eyes
to be all flesh and want
and hot and new
beg with gentle toughness
tc give ar.d open placidly
no, never let them feel
guilty
of wanton thoughts
and uncaring desires
for they are human and you
are the faceless woman
of their fantasies
Carol Waychoff
Olga Broumas: 1976 Winner, Yale Series
of Younger Poets Competition
The Lady of Dade, you all know her name,
Called on a priest of worldly fame,
Saving Father, Father, Grant to me,
The power of Her who outholies thee
That I might banish from our village this day
The sinful men.,from the Land of Fay.
For wicked theJJ are and cursed they be
For none of them will marry me.
The priest disguised her as a virgin maid
And placed in her hands a dove
Saying, Remember, Milady Anita of Dade,
It must seem like an angel's act of love.
So the Lady went to the village square
tod beginning her speech with a tearful prayer,
Demanded the flesh of all that day
Who'd told her they loved in a different way.
Demanded their bodies roast in flames
And faggots they be called by name.
So burned were the three and banished all they
Who had come to her town from the Land of Fay.
One blunder the Lady Anita made,
She bethought her husband far away,
But there, on the pyre with his lovers three,
She noticed the corpse of the Lord of Dade.
And from that day
She has little to say
Concerning the men
From the Land of Fay.
Randy Conners
Capital Coin Co.
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