Response

I lived alone in the basement of a boarding house.
I had only disturbances from above.
My light was a bulb swinging
From the drunken steps of the landlady.
She wore a cardinal’s pointed hat for beauty’s sake,
Although she was repulsive. The hair on her cheeks,
Her robe open for the world to see.
Every night she tangoed with a tailor's doll
To the angelic music of a eunuch choir.
And I played devil’s advocate,
Knocking dirt in my eyes with a broom handle.