“A stately pleasure dome” this Paris cabaret
with dance and music and drink and lovely women
(beautiful women have always been a source of pleasure for men).

The cancan began its flurries here and perhaps
the masculine obsession with long-legged women.
And look at the plethora of artwork it has inspired.

But what would an old feminist think?
Would Gloria Steinem or Adrienne Rich approve?
How would a feminist deconstruct such a place?

Cabarets, burlesques, nightclubs have always had a shade
of illicitness about them and perhaps that is what appeals.
What odd creatures we are to define pleasure

with a tinge of wrongfulness about it.
Neurologists explain that some experiences trigger
the pleasure center of the brain with dopamine and serotonin

and claim these chemicals control feelings and behaviors
but it seems all too simplistic to understand ourselves
as but a flask of chemicals.