I think "Nude Descending a Staircase" by X.J. Kennedy is a masterful example of this genre. He does not spend much time on detailed description of Duchamp's painting, but simply conveys the woman's graceful movement, which may (or may not, I am not sure) be present in the painting. I love the last lines of the first and second stanzas.
Nude Descending a Staircase
by X.J Kennedy
Toe upon toe, a snowing flesh,
A gold of lemon, root and rind,
She sifts in sunlight down the stairs
With nothing on. Nor on her mind.
We spy beneath the banister
A constant thresh of thigh on thigh—
Her lips imprint the swinging air
That parts to let her parts go by.
One woman waterfall, she wears
Her slow descent like a long cape
And pausing, on the final stair,
Collects her motions into shape.
- Daniel
|