THE BARE FACTS

I

Silk was not soft enough…
Velvet not voluptuous enough…
Linen not light enough…
Satin not sensual enough…

it had to be unique—
unimagined—
unparalleled—

a fabric beyond price

that was the order.


II

There’s one born every
minute, friend.

Don’t you doubt it.

And no one willingly admits
they feel a fool.


III

They came to the city and promised to create
miracles.

A cloth of rainbow shimmers that could reveal
truths.

Surefire separation of the strong and weak—
a glass into men’s hearts.


and the Emperor bought it

hook, line, and sinker




IV

Snipping busily at cloth of air,
weaving studiously from the wind,

Pretense following pretense and lie
building on lie…

they sold illusion in a crystal box—
and the Emperor praised the dream—
the gold flowing like wine….


V


No one willingly admits
they feel a fool…
so they lied thru
their teeth….

“What beauty!”
“What grace!”
“How it drapes….”
“See it flow and swirl….”


And the Emperor was pleased at the wisdom of his ministers.


VI

“It is finished, Your Excellency.”
“See the exquisite design.”
“Could you ask for more perfection?”
“Here, try it on….”

At last, the moment of truth.

And—
because he dare not
seem a fool,

the Emperor mimed the moment,
dressing in invisibility.


VII

and walked regally down the streets of the city as naked as the proverbial

to the fanfare of trumpets and the huzzahs of the populace

and he showed his gifts unto the world…and not all of the cries were cheers

but only the child—

pure of heart
and
too young to know
the expediency of politics—

had the decency to gasp
at his nudity.