1999 winner

The Players

we liked Shakespeare
so we chose
the names
Miranda and Desdemona
worked especially well
on the ones who fancied
they'd a bit of a brain
clients requested
recitations
our special puckered prose
comedies bouncing
between our breasts
tragedies sinking
behind mascara eyes
we charged extra
for the sonnets
ten beat rhythm rising
with snakeskins skirt
we'd become a beast
with many backs
spewing verse
ravaging them
with epic poetry
opening their flies
like christmas presents
their wife ironed shirts
smug and safely
wrapped in our cloak
of iambic pentameter
we could endure
performance
triumphing in stilettos
blending art
with the farmyard
under our harridan masks
we would smile
pretending
they were Caliban.

by Juliet Lamont