Firegazing
1912. Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Adolf Hitler are living within a few streets of each other in Vienna.
Sigmund Freud is firegazing
Rogueing flames cavort
Decisive from the bright of rooms adjacent
Comes a snort
For back to back on chimney breasts are bared opposing mirrors
On far erect in army kitsch a man his helmet dandles
But Freud all folly cold descries, observe his rapid eye
Unsee the beastly shadows lick the portraits, suck the candles
Sigmund Freud is firegazing
Naming darks inside
Towards the street young Adolf stiff in breeches
Takes a stride
Frenching at the rosebuds in her shuddering organza
Klimt parades his crush
Egon Schiele from his mother`s bedroom window shows his balls
To prim Vienna`s blush
Sigmund Freud is firegazing
Starking motives bare
For all the clumsy clack of blackened boots
Upon the stair
Our analyst is lucid. Man`s vanity lies pinioned -
He stacks his shiny riding heels, mascaras his moustache!
Indulgent to the klutzy decorator in his twills
The waiters pluck his epaulettes, they smooth his silken sash
Teetering from cheers to jeers the drunkards fling salutes
The fiddler snaps his prissy waltz and bows a martial beat
Young Adolf, on returning, from his outing squeezes pleasure
The uniform he folds, his rump he offers to the heat
Sigmund Freud is firegazing
A glare his glimpse returns
A crumpled sheet of foolscap from his jottings
Flares and burns
