ACROSS the hot square, where the barbaric sun Pours coarse laughter on the crowds, Trumpets throw their loud nooses From corner to corner. Elephants, whose indifferent backs Heave with red lambrequins, Tigers with golden muzzles, Negresses, greased and turbaned in green and yellow, Weave and interweave in the merciless glare of noon. The sun flicks here and there like a throned tyrant, Snapping his whip. From amber platters, the smells ascend Of overripe peaches mingled with dust and heated oils. Pages in purple run madly about, Rolling their eyes and grinning with huge, frightened mouths. And from a high window -- a square of black velvet -- A haughty figure stands back in the shadow, Aloof and silent. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WRECK OF THE CIRCUS TRAIN by HAYDEN CARRUTH WHEN I WROTE A LITTLE by HAYDEN CARRUTH ON THE PROPOSAL TO ERECT A MONUMENT IN ENGLAND TO LORD BYRON by EMMA LAZARUS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: JOHN CABANIS by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |