The time is after dinner. Cigarettes
                    Glow on the lawn;
Glasses begin to tinkle; T V sets
                    Have been turned on.

The moon is brimming like a glass of beer
                   Above the town,
And love keeps her appointments “Harry’s here!”
                    “I’ll be right down.”

But the pale stranger in the furnished room
                    Lies on his back
Looking at paper roses, how they bloom,
Looking at paper roses, how they bloom,
                   And ceilings crack.