Kiki de Montparnasse

kiki
who were you?
maybe the girl with the
golden shoe
at the railroad station
late one sultry night
darting in and out of sight
while dressed up like a child?
(as an artist model you were
daring and wild!)
i lowered my hand
and stuffed it in my pocket
as you went swiftly by;
i heard your anguished cry
fall upon disinterested ears!
all those living dreams and dying fears
are not faring well,
fleeing the room,
fetching a hat,
posing for a photograph,
looking this way and that
like a hungry poet
who doesn't understand
what it is to be one
and can't seem to know it.
kiki
on your return
would you burn
the words written on the platform wall?
of course,
burn them all!
to whom do they belong?
the lyrics of a 1920's song?
like bits of ribbon and cloth
and patches
and discarded matches
and candle grease.