La Berceuse: Two Views
(Madame Roulin Rocking the Cradle)
1
Madame Roulin’s pudgy body
fills up the chair. She’s a short-waisted
dump of a woman, her hair scraped back
tight away from her eyes, her eyes peer
two blanks downward, her mouth matches
the empty look of the eyes but adds
a sour touch with those pursed lips.
The happy flowers on the wallpapered
background contrast with her face.
Her cold countenance makes me shudder for
the pauvr’enfant in her care, she rocks
the cradle with a rope.
2
This is her moment to muse
about those early days
in the cafes, when the soldiers
and their women preened
and crowed, and the hookers
with their painted faces
stole tips from the waitresses
and then her man took her for a virgin
and after little Marie died, and after
he cried and went back to sea,
she settled down with a cradle
and a rope to keep house
for other people
and is well fed.
