His soul stretched tight across the skies That fade behind a city block,
Or trampled by insistent feet And evening newspapers, and eyes Assured of certain certainties,
The conscience of a blackened street Impatient to assume the world.
I am moved by fancies that are curled Around these images, and cling:
Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh; The worlds revolve like ancient women Gathering fuel in vacant lots.
[40]
[45]
[50]
[Title] Preludes: a kind of introduction, often used in music
GLOSSARY GLOSSARY
[8] vacant lots: empty plots of land, usually in a town or city
[13] lamps: gas streetlights that had to be lit individually [19] masquerades: pretences [22] shades: roller blinds [27] sordid: dirty; squalid [28] constituted: made up of
[36] curled the papers from your hair: in those days, before plastic curlers were invented, women used rolled-up paper to curl their hair