Lindsay Kemp

Lindsay Kemp

I was sad when the all clear sounded

I’d been giving my all as the bombs were dropping,

Doing my repertoire of famous ladies

In the air raid shelter with the street agog

And then suddenly

My audience was gone.

But when the red velvet curtains of Sunderland Empire

Flew open and there were the fairies in cheap make-up

And there were the villainous dames decked in flowers

I thought: here’s my world.

I danced on the ferry from North to South Shields

All dressed in crepe I’d cut myself

I danced on the sands under Marsden rock

In a kimono brought home too late for my sister

I danced for her memory in the grotto with my raincoat

Turned inside out, to show the flashy silk lining.

South Shields was all so beautiful to me,

Even the wrecked hulls beached at Tyne Dock,

Where I played and made up characters to be.

Now I’m in Livorno,

Dancing still in paint and feathers

A little stiff, maybe

But I believe to this day that dancing is

The quickest way to get to heaven.

I watch the ferries coming home

And it looks just like my own home

I fancy it could even be South Shields

And me a boy, which I’d quite like to be again,

Having been everything else,

And even though

I never like to do anything twice.