Caprice

I should like to be dancer,

A slim persuasive dancer,

A scarlet Spanish dancer

If you please.

But he said, "Just now we're crowded

With these Carmens -

Simply crowded - I can't find,"

His forehead clouded,

"Vacancies.

I suppose you want to tango,"

And he sighed, "or a fandango

Scarlet cigarette and tango,

Scarlet smile.

In a century, or twenty,

We may want you;

We have plenty

For a while.

There's a place for Quaker Maidens,

For brown-haired Quaker Maidens,

For blue-eyed Quaker Maidens,

There's a place."

So I do not blame my Maker,

And I play the role of Quaker,

For I think I wear the Quaker with a grace.

But when the tune is lilting,

Like a scarlet skirt is tilting,

That rebel heart a-lilting

no one sees.

For I want to be a dancer,

A slim, persuasive, dancer,

A scarlet Spanish dancer

If you please.

Anne Lindbergh