BONUS FEATURE:
An Icon of Children’s Literature Reimagined in a series of Screwball Paper Dolls.
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I HAVE
three outfits ready to go. Next on my to-do list: Pirate-Sly, Seance-Sly (the cat assists John Dee with his money-maker mystic-readings for wealthy females), and Elizabethan-Dandy-Sly.
Also to come:
A companion doll, Sha-Sha. That’s Sha, at right. Sly meets her at Queen Elizabeth’s court and goes for her in a big way. When push comes to shove, she kicks him to the curb. She has eyes for Robert Dudley, no one else.
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Sha-Sha is a Douc Langur, called the most beautiful of all primates. She’s the Queen’s pampered pet, Elizabeth’s Mini-Me. Sha loves fancy balls, especially, masquerade balls. Sensitive about her nose, she favors costumes that allow her to conceal the feature, so unlike the slender sniffer of a court beauty.
Sly, to comfort her, has written a sonnet praising the nose. Does it cheer her? I’m not sure. I haven’t gotten to that episode yet. Here’s his so-thoughtful verse:
To a Nose
by S. Boots
Where does your foremost fascination lie?
I tell you, Mistress, not where you suppose.
You are magnificent of brow and eye,
but I rejoice, above all, in your nose.
Abundance of the snout is no vile thing,
an aperture odd, no horrific flaw.
Cavernous nostrils suck the scents of spring
more readily than dimple dents. What law
requires that a nose be slim, or pert,
to be admired, to be reckoned fine?
High handsome is less sensory-alert,
her focus never not quite a divine profile.
The buttonholes, so meek, so sleek, so pink,
just darling, do not snort with the same greed
to savor life in all its sweet and stink,
as does your critter charmingly indeed.
A placid, chiseled symmetry, it does not do
for a merry force of nature such as you.
Your thug has more exuberance than those
lady-like honkers. Celebrate your nose!
Sly is an enthusiastic versifier. He has a substantial body of semi-delightful work to share with you, if you’ll let him.
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Comment below. Even better, reach me at
theroguedecamps@gmail.com.
This isn’t the interactive feature I’d like it to be.
I’m not too tech-savvy. I’m finding my way, bit by itsy-bit.
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