DEJUNA BARNES: Avante Garde Diva!

 American write who played an important part in the development of 20th century english language modernist writing and was one of the key figures in 1920s and 30s bohemian Pars after filling a similar role in the Greenwich Villge of the teens. Her novel Nightwood became a cult work of modern fiction, helped by an introduction by T.S. Elliot It stands out today for its portrayal of lesbian themes and its distinctive writing style. Since Barnes's death, interest in her work has grown and many of her books are back in print.

SEEN FROM THE "L"

SO SHE stands—nude—stretching dully
Two amber combs loll through her hair
A vague molested carpet pitches
Down the dusty length of stair.
She does not see, she does not care
It’s always there.

The frail mosaic on her window
Facing starkly toward the street
Is scribbled there by tipsy sparrows—
Etched there with their rocking feet.
Is fashioned too, by every beat
  Of shirt and sheet.

Sill her clothing is less risky
Than her body in its prime,
They are chain-stitched and so is she
Chain-stitched to her soul for time.
Ravelling grandly into vice
Dropping crooked into rhyme.
Slipping through the stitch of virtue,
       Into crime.

Though her lips are vague as fancy
In her youth—
They bloom vivid and repulsive
As the truth.
Even vases in the making
    Are uncouth.

*We love this literary diva! She was different and very much did her literary thing. Give props to the avante-garde diva her self; "Djuna Barnes!*

xoxo$^$
Literary Barbie