The Ball

by Rebecca Blake Title

Jack, Mary and Sue must
Hang streamers in the ballroom.
Jack can only hang orange and only if it's with red and never with blue.
Mary can't hang streamers when Sue is.
Sue's streamers must start with the letter M.
(For instance mauve, or marble, or mildew, or mustard.)

The queen's been feeling unlucky
So we covered the floor with a shiny sheet of pennies.
Everywhere she walks.

The dancers, Franky, Georgette and Bill, all have scarves of yellow and pink.
(They're never to be green when the streamers are blue. And so on.)
What color must the streamers be then?
Their skirts have been cut
To the latest length: just above right below the knee.

The queen says
It is improper to be seen without the proper mask.
This is a masquerade.
Blindfolds, she proclaims, slipping on a penny,
Were invented so we wouldn't see at all.
Masks were invented so that everything we saw
Would be ravishing and the right color at the right time.

And if you wouldn't mind wearing purple,
Or wearing the cat mask.
And if you would dance with me on pennies.
I'd be honored
If on my right arm you'd attend the ball.