Langston Hughes, "Montmartre Beggar Woman" (1927)
By Langston Hughes
Once you were beautiful,—
Now,
Hunched in the cold,
Nobody cares
That you are old.
Once you were lovely, —
Now,
In the street,
No one remembers
Your lips were sweet.
Oh, withered old woman
Of rue Fontaine
Nobody but Death
Will kiss you again.
Published in The Crisis, October 1927