Dance of the Forty-One

For background information on the Dance of the Forty-One see here.

Come and see! A sweltering haven in Mexico City

offering respite from prying eyes.

Come and see! Man knows man in this house of Sodom

and joy’s wine flows in abundance.

Come and see! Masculinity embraced and rejected

by bearded men in frilly dresses.

Come and see! Interlocked muscles and shared breaths,

a saccharine tenderness in their waltz.

Come and see! Appetites long starved in daytime,

now a carnal feast in candlelight.

But wait! There’s a knock on heaven’s heavy gate,

uniformed grunts breaching the sanctum.

But wait! Forty-one men dragged to hate’s court,

fettered by charges of love and lust.

Now watch! Bribes can save them from conscription

but not the public’s humiliation.

Now weep! The Dance of the Forty-One ends

in national scandal and scarring sorrow.

Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto (Public domain).