Effigy in three Pieces

when the scene painter packed his small tool kit
prior to leaving my studio, under my tall easel
he found a twentieth-century paper window
hung with shades of grim and gray.
it was part of a sketch i made of
the modern movement, which showed some understanding
of the temper of the times, and it was open to a question.
and peeking through,
he caught a glimpse of a woman's pubic hair
just as she was pulling on her blue jeans,
fixing them low on her hips.
and approaching her was a bearded man with menacing
black eyes who appeared to be very angry, and the painter
wanted to shout a warning when he saw the man raise
an arm as if to strike, but he could not speak.
after a blink, he saw pieces of buttocks and breasts and
genitalia covered the floor where the woman had been standing,
and cruel black eyes were cavorting on her grave.
the significance of this find was not realized
until  the scene painter was much older, and by then it was too late.