Some signal is here, some sign;
You don’t know what it means,
Scriptless, cueless, moving around in this scene
Among untrivial fripperies by design.
A surdity of sorts — it must be you’re no target
Right now, although it’s you at which they stare;
Absurdity gains you nothing, unaware
As ever of fashion’s jargon, jewelry’s argot.
The barker (and assuming he’s a barker)
Is loud, cajoling golden, blue and red;
The braid-and-brass emcee (if not a mortician instead)
Makes lights grow brighter and the silence starker.
If only passementerie would speak its secrets,
As if some century’s fads could date the fairy tale,
But here no miniver edge, no plumage of egrets
Do these bespangling soundless mouths regale.
Surdity – Deafness.
Argot – (Here pronounced AR‑got; the word is sometimes pronounced ar‑GO.) The slang of a particular group.
Miniver – (Pronounced MIN-i-ver) White fur worn originally by medieval nobles.