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.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem