Screaming Mime
Mark Blickley – Miss Unity
“Headshots” by Miss Unity
I should speak out when they abuse
This pasty-faced artist who decided to choose
Being trapped in silence with make-up queer
I may not speak, but I can hear
The taunts, the insults, and the hate
Towards street performers who refuse the bait
Of ridiculed anger through vulgar gestures
Believing performance is a continuing semester
Of learning to grow within painted smile
Ignore the assholes, concentrate on the child.
Who laughs with joy or open-mouthed wonder
Yet tosses no coins as my stomach thunders
Breaking the silence, begging for bread
My intestinal rumblings plead to be fed
A steady diet of human compassion
Through the clinking of coins in an appreciative reaction
To my ancient art and enduring hunger
Selling myself like a common whoremonger
Hoping to satisfy an insatiable crowd
In tight fitting Spandex, a seductive shroud
Ignoring lewd sneers at my exposed anatomy
That I’ve twisted and stretched in hopes it would flatter me
As my muscles contort and my body sings
A silent song that once entertained kings
Miss Unity is a writer and drag queen from upstate New York. Her essay collection Who Killed Mabel Frost? will be published by SF/LD Books in 2023.
Mark Blickley grew up within walking distance of New York’s Bronx Zoo. He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and PEN American Center. His latest book is the flash fiction collection, Hunger Pains (Buttonhook Press).
