Anonymous Brothel Photo, 1882

by Peter KlinePublished: March 1, 2010
Anonymous Brothel Photo, 1882

The only certain thing is that she’s young.
Or is she?  Pull away the veil of hair
blurring the edges of her eyes.  Defer
for a moment the fringe of coverlet that hangs
self-consciously across her pelvic wings,
the strap a primper tugged down from her shoulder.
Try to return her uninflected stare
persuading you, This is where I belong.
There is no elsewhere.  Paisley; worn divan;
hydrangeas; satin cushions in a row;
for backdrop, two black cloths that won’t quite join:
eternal props of an artist’s studio.
The dapple of her skin through stocking thread—
skyscraper lights no one had dreamed of yet.

 




About the Author

Peter Kline
Peter Kline lives in San Francisco, where he is a Wallace Stegner fellow in Poetry Writing at Stanford University. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Poetry, Tin House, ZYZZYVA, Poet Lore, Crazyhorse, Drunken Boat, and elsewhere.

Comments are closed.