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| Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2), 1912, Oil on Canvas, Marcel Duchamp, Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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 waterall, she wears
Her slow descent like a long cape
And pausing, on the final stair
Collects her motions into shape.
~ X. J. Kennedy
This is by far my favorite Duchamp work. The repetition brings to life the energy a photograph just can't capture. I'd never read the poem before, but it's a great description of the painting.
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