Calcutta's dream factories all,
Their silver screens are now mouldy,
The sound systems shoddy,
The seats infected with lice,
And the toilets reek of filth.
Emblems of a locality gone to seed.
Shapely buildings, tall and graceful,
once;
Now they are in middle age
and worse.
They hide their painted faces
Behind blazing neon lights
And uncouth billboards.
Brigitte Bardot. Sophia Loren. Bo Derek.
Raquel Welch. Brooke Shields. Sharon Stone.
Julia Roberts. Cameron Diaz. Penelope Cruz . . .
They have all been here,
and how.
The plaster is peeling, exposing
The flesh of faded brickwork.
Their garments are in tatters,
Their skins lined and grey with soot.
They clothe their unalluring nudity
With posters of censored Hollywood flicks,
Showing sirens
In various stages of undress.