the girl who rented rooms

A picture done for my illustration class based on a poem by Charles Bukowski:

the pretty girl who rented rooms

Down in New Orleans
this young pretty girl
showed me a room for rent and
it was dark in there and we stood
very close
and as we stood there
she said,
“the room is $4.50 a week.”
and I said,
“I usually pay $3.50.”
as we stood there in the dark
I decided to pay her $4.50 because
maybe I’d see her in the hall once in a
while
and I could not understand then why
women had to be like she was
they always waited for you
to give a sign
to make the first move
or not to make the first move
and I said,
“I’ll take the room,” and I gave her
the money
although I could see that
the sheets were dirty and the bed
wasn’t made
but I was young and a virgin,
frightened and
confused
and I gave her the money
and she closed the door behind her
and there was no toilet and no sink
and no window.
the room was damp with suicide and death
and I undressed and lay down on the bed
and I lived there a week
and I saw many other people in the hall
old drunks
people on relief
crazy people
good young people
dull old people
but I never saw her again.
finally
I moved around the corner
to a new place
for $3.50 a week
run by another female
a 75-year-old religious maniac
with bad eyes and a limp
and we didn’t have any trouble
at all
and there was a sink
and a window
in the room.



Done with charcoal, pastel, and conte.