Ladies' Club Meet

With frills and twists
at the pudgy wrists
with a bunch of lace
framing her fat face

"You look like an old King"
the child yelled out of joy
having forgotten the toy
Now all giggling -smiling

She took serious offence
At the word "Old "
As if dead and cold ,
Shoo-ing and making a face

said she -"King! No chance"
"Louis XVI of France "
the kids chanted
ran as they panted

The lady sat and muttered
curses aplenty stuttered
It was a fancy dress show
no doubt about it now

The ladies had met
to drink tea and chat
the thin and the fat
to frown and fret

to hum and haw
to chirp and caw
to decide what to wear
when the VIP comes here.

Who dances
who sings
who prances
who pulls the strings

What is to be said
what is not to be said
what to drink and what to eat
which  juicy treat which meat

Every single movement
words ratified , approved
big lady benevolent
 beams"much improved "

She exclaims as she sees
long red ribbons in Chinese
script gibberish , hanging
from pristine marble landing

"How do you improve
a shining marble floor "
The ladies' strove
with colours and flour

With flowers and festoons
colours and balloons
 ruin the simple beauty
of a house of antiquity