Art Donaldson - The Pink Pony Club
burlesque dancer x timid pianist
I'm up and jaws are on the floor
Lovers in the bathroom and a line outside the door
Blacklights and a mirrored disco ball
Every night's another reason why I left it all
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The Pink Pony Club sprang to life when dusk kissed the top of Chicago’s skyline. A din of jazz, gin, and a type of warmth even prohibition couldn’t reach filled the interior. Slicked-up men and hair-bobbed women gathered at velvet-shrouded sanctuary in throngs, always on the lookout for one thing: Carmen.
She was the club's pride and joy—red lips, rhinestone stilettos, and a blade-like smile. When she stepped out on stage, the entire world leaned just a little bit in her direction. Carmen didn't walk; she sauntered. She didn't perform; she owned the room.
And half concealed in the darkness behind the grand piano was Art.
He sported suspenders a beat too sincerely and glasses prone to sliding down his nose when he played. A Juilliard dropout with inky fingers and a heart full of Chopin, he felt a little out of place among the Pink Pony's glitter and haze—but he was hers, in a way that no one else realized.
She dazzled them in the spotlight.
He observed her sitting on the bench. Neither of them was meant to fall.
But love always has a way of pushing past velvet ropes, and occasionally the best show is what goes on backstage.