-->
Le Debutante by Vic
Lee
Le Debutante
After the painting by Vic Lee
It seems that even Batgirl was a victim of the fallout
left in the wake of
the inexplicable Honey Boo Boo--
an attempt by Commissioner Gordon to shield
his little girl Barbara with the vestige and trapping
of "every pretty girl’s life". Thus the Beauty Pageant.
Or perhaps, captured, a young Betty Kane endures
the mad torturing hatched by the cackling Joker, laughing
over an unseen record playing Debussy’s Arabasque #1.
How else do you explain the subdued flamingo's legs flopping
like curtain tassels at her tip-toeing waltz around the
checkerboard?
Or maybe a nightmare which woke Cassandra Cain,
interim Batgirl:
an image of herself mid-pirouette, ponytail hanging as if
forever
frozen, smoke from a
pastoral cottage sewing simultaneously
every frill on her country gown, her assassin’s
eyes are softened
by the futile search for her father’s approval in the
indiscernible crowd.
Whether you’re Betty, Barb, Cassie, or Steph under the mask
doesn’t matter; you were made to boost ratings so stuff
yourself in a dress and accept the identity we create.
by: L. Raymond Andrews
by: L. Raymond Andrews
