a fairy tale of Camden Town
Clancy’s Gym, the same old sounds
a minute’s rest then two more rounds
I’ll jack this in (like Bobby Prewitt)
but where’s the one who made me do it?
He hasn’t come, he’s never here
by now he’s on his second beer
presiding in the Dublin Castle
surrounded by his navvy vassals
they’re calling me “the Tralee Tiger”
I coulda been … where’s my Rod Steiger?
the jolting jab, fast on his feet,
the bantamweight that no-one’s beat…
my bucket? Something-Saint-John’s-Wood
and scum from gumshields, spit and blood
I’ve learnt a word I like – “effete”
You don’t hear that on Albert Street
He knows I never wanted this. He
said he’d cure me called me cissy
he calls me Rocky. What a sham
why can’t I be the thing I am?
I want to dance like Nureyev
which might explain the fury of
the shellacking that this lad’s getting
Look at those losers busy betting
Sad old slobs with Patterson poses
ten-buck suits and flattened noses
come to think, though, who’s the fool
they’re not up here on this stool
back room Clancy’s Masculine Sports
blood on the gloves, shamrock on the shorts
Everyone teased him, thought Sean was prissy
His mean roommates even called him 'Missy'
Did Sean feel abused?
Not at all! He mused:
What am I? ~ A sissy or a cissy?!
In da Big Easy
sipping on our Hurricanes
wandering to who-cares-where
Pass an old court-yard
Meters playing 'Cissy Strut'
Funk echoes down Bourbon Street...
*Art Neville (The Neville Brothers) was the organist and founder of the Meters. 'Cissy Strut' was their biggest hit. They reunited for a Katrina benefit concert with Aaron Neville as a guest vocalist
Below are are the links to the song and ‘They All Axed (Asked) For You’ which has become a Mardi Gras classic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_iC0MyIykM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1Vi795Wduc
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.