Skinnying

Fighter, 1913 - Egon Schiele - WikiArt.org

I am reverting to the boyish figure of my youth
trying to become more handsome

than I have ever been before

I am concerned that you might not want me
with hollowed cheeks

and flattened abdomen

what would you press your lips into
what would your fingers grasp

in the last moments of love

I am trying to hold my own against your beauty
I know this to be a worthy cause

but one I cannot win
yet, it injects me with an energy

that knows no bounds

this is also gentle warning
I expect that as my transformation goes forward
women will throw themselves at my feet

in ascending numbers

I could become preoccupied

with a lass younger than you
I might even surrender my efforts to save the world
these are not working very well anyway

please save me before I turn too thin

2017

Click here to read in German

Picasso

The Next Great War