The following poem is a featured selection from the Evergreen Review Reader 1967-1972, to be published by Four Walls Eight Windows in the fall of 1998. It originally appeared in Evergreen #47, June 1967.

The thing I remember best, Perhaps her most striking feature, Is that she had Mirrors Under each armpit. You could see them when she surrendered. Dr. Ré foretold the past; Claimed the future would not last. Black queen Falls On black queen When another dying lesbian Opens out of town. Fly the Transylvanian flag Upside-down For the era that passed When consumption Became Tuberculosis; When St. Petersburg Became Leningrad Dr. Ré, Lying nude on the chaise, Her breasts covered with ferns, Was wont to say: "It was this way once; It will never be this way again..." She had a kind of quiet dignity. Reflecting on her armpits, I can still recall the Morro Castle Silently, Majestically, Descending into the Atlantic: The black waters bubbling madly Like champagne. I can still recall the orchestra Trapped below the decks Playing Cole Porter's "Let's Misbehave," While dancing couples Shot Electric looks Across the tilting ballrooms To their lovers. Drowning! But I can still recall That no one dropped a step. Fly the Bosnian flag Upside-down For the world that Perished When Zeppelins Became Dirigibles. Madame Odette de Vassily-Courbet, Returning from a horse show in Danzig, Traveling with Sylvia, Her pedigreed whippet, sinks beneath the waves: A million dollars worth of diamonds Still firmly lodged In her sanitary napkin. Five years later, The Pomorska Brigade calvary Gallops across the plains, Brandishing lances, Hoping to pummel the massed Panzerwagen or Swat down the Stukas That menace next year's Easter eggs. Bambi is in flames! The iron deer has Melted On the lawn! The saxophonist floats past the chandelier, Drifting Motionlessly From stateroom to steerage. Bones away In Warsaw's phospherescent sewers. Listen closely. This is the last time They'll be playing the refrain. Dr. Ré Foretold the past; Claimed the future Would not last. Black queen Falls On black queen When another dying lesbian Opens Out of town.

Posted 9/18/98 Capriccio to Djuna. © Copyright

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