281. Pantomime Cinema

shushing
shushing and shushing
shushing
shushing through snow

pantomime snow on a pantomime day

voiceless as an eff
as an ess

And a horse in a man suit shuffles through

A horse in a man suit
With a mustache painted on
And a little pince-nez
A slight bit of balding at the temples
As if he’d polished his head too much

He doesn’t say a word
As he shuffles through and by
With a little pince-nez
Balanced just enough
On his long brown muzzle

And he dances
On his back legs as a man might dance
Without saying a word

And all the children clap

and their hands go
shush shush shush
and their hands say
shush shush shush

but they don’t speak

they are voiceless

voiceless as a pee
voiceless as a tee

pantomime film in a pantomime life

Look behind you and you will see
The pantomime dame is a stallion
Teetering on his spindly legs
He is so funny as a she
Baring himself as he stumbles

through the snow
through the snow
shushing shushing
through the snow
through the snow

there is a tune to the shushing

but it is voiceless

as a kay or a quay

When the bucket of water splashes
You are left dry to watch
The principal boy
Carefully watching how she moves
In a pantomime way

Yes, yes, yes, carefully watching
In a carefully watched way
How she moves as a boy through the body of the play

and they are singing in the snow
and you cannot hear them
but they are singing in the snow

and they are shushing through the snow
and you cannot hear them
and they are shushing through the snow

two horses in the costume of a man
stumble through the snow shushing
and they are shushing through
shushing through to the next place

it is a harlequinade of snow now
and snow is falling from the trees
because there is no sky
only a ceiling painted white

it is a harlequinade of snow
and the snow is falling in a pattern
it is falling in the pattern of shushing
in the pattern of shushing it falls

and everyone is singing and slapping
and everyone is laughing through the song

but no-one speaks

there is shushing for words
there is shushing for words
there is shushing for words

and all of the clapping
sounds like shush shush shush