ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Maisie Madam.

‘Maisie Madam’ strutted ’round the town when we were kids,
my child’s eye thought she was the height of glam,
I thought that she was pretty - fur and feathers was her thing,
but Mum said she was mutton dressed as lamb.

She always laughed when after school I called into her store
“Look what the cat dragged in” she’d always say
then give me half a penny’s worth of lollies in a bag
“on the house”, she’d wink and send me on my way.

Once I found her leafing through a fashion magazine,
“Reminds me of…,” she started then to say,
“the Summer I went wandering through Europe, so in love
an April spent in Paris, lithe and gay.”

Embarrassed then she closed her book and wiped away a tear,
I never heard her speak of it again,
I’m sure it was an epic love, deserving of the screen
it must have been to etch her face with pain.

Great use of the prompts Wendy and the turn at the end - nicely done.

Your town must have been more refined than where we grew up - we had a lady known as Dirty Diane strutting her stuff around the town - she actually approached my Mum to see if she was interested in providing some 'pleasures' for the men of the town. Poor Mum was horrified. but my Dad thought it was hilarious. Mind you my Mum was a looker in her younger days - she still is at 92

Brings back memories, Wendy - I think every town has had its characters. We had three elderly spinsters - Ruth, Mabel and Maud. They and their bachelor brother James lived as recluses in an ancient house that even in my young years, still had gas lighting and wasn't connected to electricity. The ladies would walk about town in the most antiquated clothing - fox furs, 1930s and 1940s styled outfits - all mismatched and moth-eaten. Yet they were super-rich and owned property worth millions.

Excellent poem - reminds us that we don't always know the story behind the facade.

Cheers, Shelley