Guest post by Minnie Kemp

During lockdown, we have all had a little extra time to while away the hours. This week, I decided to write a poem inspired by Duncan Grant’s ‘At the Ballet’ lithograph, 1938.

My white cat Radish, thumps
His lil’ paws like ballet pumps
The soft tinker whiles me away
On a zephyr to another day
With silk and pearls, goosebumps

Locked down maybe
But still ethereal baby

Tales of temptation, exile, sin and redemption
Flexing cheek bones, the fourth dimension
Byzantine splendours, fantasy and myth to modern life
Escapism from this everyday strife
Rocked, sweet by the orchestra, relieving all tension

Wake me up when the interval is done
Act 11 begins under a medieval sun
Profound inextricable jealousy
The exchange of weight is ecstasy
Restore me to life with birdsong

Holy Hell, I miss the dance,
Twisting bodies in a delicate trance

Perpetual sunshine and suspended stillness
Far flung from this global illness
Trip trap goes Peregrine in La Fille Mal Gardee
Still waters on a swan lake we’ve all heard the melody
The Right of Spring, Stravinsky’s wild shrillness

Packed out and vibrating
Behind the curtain emulating

Undercover princess falls in love with shepherd boy
Lecherous fawn in pursuit of nymphs acting coy
A living canvas of sensuality
Every movement poetry
A mirage in the desert, no, the real McCoy

Compressed and restrained ready to pop
Arabesque, Port de Bras, bunny hop

A needlepoint cottage, Bob Crowley’s “Home sweet Home”
Wink blink, coup de theatre, brilliant, monochrome
Here and now the white rabbit has been swapped for a cat
Wonderland dissolved, only time to chip away at
Pirouette, hold fire, you are still free to roam

Use chopsticks, conduct to an invisible audience
Radish the white cat thinks it’s glorious
Dislocate that dodgy hip, whilst attempting to leap
Sit bare buttock on a velvet sheet
Sashay away honey, YOU reign victorious!

We would love to hear about what has inspired you this week. Please do send us some of your own musings or poems on Instagram with #designthreads and tag @kitkempdesignthread.