Vol. VI No. 1 - Modernist Magazines Project

IN A DANCE HALL
By NORMAN RIDLEY
THE band has stopped. A sudden murmurous roar
Rises in crescendo from the floor,
Where men and women, muscularly tired,
Separate and wait to be inspired
By further toxic draughts of syncopation.
I am aware of chameleonic sights
Coloured by fitful, coruscating lights;
Of black-stalked men in shirts of spotless linen j
Of female boys and fat, perspiring women—
Products of spontaneous creation!
There is a pause of rapt, expectant zeal
While from the dais a diuretic squeal
Preludes a weird rhapsodic composition—­
The signal for the conjugal positiqn. . . .
Hermaphroditic girls their silken knees
Contort in anti-calisthenic style,
While sooted niggers nasally beguile
Unheeding ears with escapades of love.
The pianist accompanies above
With digital gymnastics on the keys.