On the Catwalk

In numerous locales countrywide, they hold sway Pirouetting at intervals like ballerinas from Bolshoi Beauteous, feline and very feminine Slender to the point of emaciation, not quite Cultivating the undernourished look on a frugal diet Decidedly austere for a longer tenure in the limelight Basking in the fleeting warmth of an adulatory audience A gathering of the doting kindred and the upwardly mobile Some dirty old men on the sly, dirty young men too Glued to their seats craning for a better view By and large captive by choice, a handful perforce Sitting through to pen their weekly column Giving those they fancy their due in the sun Witnesses to a parade of demure eyed lasses And a few with flashy looks walking tall on stilettos Essentially female and contoured though not prominently so At least not to a marked degree, yet with excellent muscle tone Opulence, no longer deemed a career necessity Once considered right stuff, now rejected as wrong size An hour-glass shape belonging to an age bygone But hardly so, from the viewers’ mind, in retrospect Enchanting and alluring yet not overtly titillating Each in a state of dress and undress Willing tools of designers flaunting their creations Sporting dresses and hats and shoes, and lingerie too In black or white and loud or subdued hues Displaying formal wear, casual wear, swimsuits and sleep suits Some scanty and figure hugging, others flowing and loose A bony look required for some, others fulsome A voyeur’s paradise, to be sure Indulging a fetish without stooping too low Chilly weather was never reason enough to cancel a show Heat of arc-lamps taking care of goose pimples Or brandy taken neat infusing the needed heat Harbingers of tomorrow’s fashion and pall-bearers of today’s The strobe lit platform of the pageant Serving to launch new faces or is it legs? The leggy look personified by Twiggy of yore Carried through in the interim and sustained by the new genre Captivating without doubt, and thorough professionals Displaying unruffled demeanour and tutored bearing of thoroughbreds Exuding confidence with every graceful step they take Cool as ice despite the harsh glare of stage lights And callous catcalls from boorish males Performing in a backdrop of future fashion trends Money and fame finding some, eluding others Be it centre stage or in the shadows It is bread on the catwalk for all