George Grosz "Suicide" 1916
In the window of an algae-green dive,
a topless prostitute, restless
and anemic, rotates
her sharp chin and Egyptian eyes
towards the tulip of profane blue
she holds to the dusky light
as the radiator clang
and muffled sounds
of fornicating neighbors
float through the room.
A pink invalid dwarf fidgets
near her torpedo breasts,
which are surely pointed
in the direction of a crime.
Outside, a man in a wilted suit
sprawls out, teeth clenched
into a lizard's smile,
hands loosening around
a silver cane. The suede blue derby
and gun have been tossed aside.
Through the city streets
the stalking vagrants and roaming wolves
stream in menstrual red, and on the corner
of the block, a dapper man, his eyes
downcast, dangles
from a bent lamppost.