The Exotic Emperor & His Entourage: Tulips Have Over 3,000 Names.64 Are Hidden In This Poem Poem by Sheena Blackhall

The exotic emperor with a love of jazz
Strolled down Sunset Boulevard chewing popcorn

No 1 concubine was a laughing girl
With lemon ice eyes, Little Suzy from Saigon

No 2, a meteor, a queen of the night, a flash point
Liked honky tonk and cabaret under April moons
She was a Cherokee maiden, the doorman's favourite

No 3 was a phoenix memory christened Royal Cloud
Her musical home was Nashville at party time
The emperor called her the Queen of Sheba,
His quicksilver lover

No 4 was as heady as Sacramento whisky.
Her nickname was Curly Sue
She loved red dollars, purple rain, tattoos
Twirling a parasol on the back of her lucky dragon
Crowds cried ‘Bravissimo! ' as the passed through

No 5 was Geisha Halloween, a firebird
In red wing fancy frills and yellow silk
She played the Ace of Diamonds in the pack

No 6, Bo-peep in an astrakhan coat
Calypsoed in harmony with no 7 Dainty Caroline
Beelzebub's baby doll from California

No 8, Shiraz was a wallflower, fat as a zeppelin
Walked like a zombie, legs like obelisks
Teeth like a mustangs, hirsute as King Kong

No 9 was Shanghai Sharon, a rhapsody in blue
An eastern pearl with gusto, a live aperitif
For La Dolce Vita

No 10 was Fanfarella, a gypsy queen
A chanson d'amour who smelt like a cherry orchard

The exotic emperor loved them equally
Like a chameleon, he thrived on change.