Post Impressions VI

at the head of this street a gasping organ is waving moth-eaten
tunes.   a fatish hand turns the crank;the box spouts fairies,out
of it sour gnomes tumble clumsily,the little box is spilling ran-
cid elves upon neat sunlight into the flowerstricken air which is
filthy with agile swarming sonal creatures

—Children,stand with circular frightened faces glaring at the
shabby tiny smiling,man in whose hand the crank goes desperately,
round and round pointing to the queer monkey

(if you toss him a coin he will pick it cleverly from,the air and
stuff it seriously in,his minute pocket)Sometimes he does not
catch a piece of money and then his master will yell at him over
the music and jerk the little string and the monkey will sit,up,
and look at,you with his solemn blinky eyeswhichneversmile and
after he has caught a,penny or three,pennies he will be thrown a
peanut(which he will open skilfully with his, mouth carefully
holding, it in his little toylikehand)and then he will stiff-ly
throw the shell away with a small bored gesture that makes the
children laugh.

But i don’t,   the crank goes round desperate elves and hope-
less gnomes and frantic fairies gush clumsily from the battered box
fatish and mysterious the flowerstricken sunlight is thickening
dizzily is reeling gently the street and the children and the mon-
keyandtheorgan and the man are dancing slowly are tottering up
and down in trembly mist of atrocious melody....tiniest dead
tunes crawl upon my face my hair is lousy with mutilated singing
microscopic things in my ears scramble faintly tickling putres-
cent atomies,
             and
                 i feel the jerk of the little stringthe tiny
smiling shabby man is yelling over the music i understand
him i shove my round red hat back on my head i site up and
blink at you with my solemn eyeswhichneversmile

yes,By god.
for i am they are pointing at the queer monkey with a little
oldish doll-like face and hairy arms like an ogre and rubbbercolour
ed hands and feet filled with quick fingers and a remarkable tail
which is allbyitself alive.(and he has a little red coat with i
have a real pocket in it and the round funny hat with a big feather
is tied under myhis chin.)   that climbs and cries and runs and
floats like a toy on the end of a string