Broadway

It was then she struck--from behind,In mid air, as with the edge of a great wing!And instantly down the mists of my eyesThere came crowds walking--- men as visionsWith expressionless, animate faces;Empty men with shell-thin bodiesJostling close above the gutter,Hasting--nowhere! And then for the first timeI really saw her, really scented the sweatOf her presence and--fell back sickened!Ominous, old, painted--With bright lips, and lewd Jew’s eyesHer might strapped in by a corsetTo give her age youth, perfectIn her will to be young she had coveredThe godhead to go beside me.Silent, her voice entered at my eyesAnd my astonished thought followed her easily:“Well, do their eyes shine, do their clothes fit?These live I tell you! Old men with red cheeks,Young men in gay suits! See them!Dogged, quivering, impassive--Well--are these the ones you envied?”At which I answered her, “Marvelous old queen,Grant me power to catch something of this day’sAir and sun into your service!That these toilers after peace and after pleasureMay turn to you, worshippers at all hours!”But she sniffed upon the words warily--Yet I persisted, watching for an answer:“To you, horrible old woman,Who know all fires out of the bodiesOf all men that walk with lust at heart!To you, O mighty, crafty prowlerAfter the youth of all cities, drunkWith the sight of thy archness! All the youthThat come to you, you having the knowledgeRather than to those uninitiate--To you, marvelous old queen, give me alwaysA new marriage--”But she laughed loudly--“A new grip upon those garments that brushed meIn days gone by on beach, lawn, and in forest!May I be lifted still, up and out of terror,Up from before the death living around me--Tom up continually and carriedWhatever way the head of your whim is,A burr upon those streaming tatters--”But the night had fallen, she stilled meAnd led me away.