Picasso at the Bateau Lavoir

All life superbly for the taking
cobbled square
swaying shade of chestnut trees
green iron fountain trickling silver
sky so blue I can't name it but I'll mix it later
a worker clatters over the cobbles singing
steep squares of Monmartre tilt like decks of wrecks
with whirligigs of streets
thin honey houses stroke the sky
dried blood shutters with ribcage slats
black squiggle balconies

At dawn I climb the thousand twisting steps of Sacre Coeur
drink the matchstick city with toy tin tower
who could see this sight and still be sad?
I'd love to light this tower with the new electricity
to throb and tingle silver rose and gold at night
one monumental orgasm
I marvel at the life beneath the roofs
sad for the untalented and untouched by poetry

A gipsy girl trots down the hill
I fling away my cigarette, pick up a kitten
and thrust it in her arms
she laughs and blushes
her name's Fernande
come see my etchings
madly she agrees
I possess her in three charcoal swirls
one dot and a crucifix
she opens her scissor legs and cuts me in half

I'm young, handsome, virile
my hand accomplishes my eye's command
death and failure are just herbs to sweeten the broth
I'm driven to record each sensation with my brush
what is this tyranny?
don't think! paint!
this greed to gobble each moment and still have it
piled in corners, hanging on walls
but best of all before me dripping wet
how hellish not to be an artist under this sun

Today I will invent cubism