A Quarterly of Criticism and Review i^^^^^^^^fcEjfc $15

BeverleyBrahicObjets d'ArtSliding into Brussels on the southboundtrain—on elevated tracks—we flashedthrough a red light district where a rowof second story picture windows framedwoman after woman, each one pressed upagainst a sheet of glass suggestivelyfor the stopping-over inter-citytraffic. Rooms Chambres Zimmer the signs tapedin bottom corners said, behind themdeepening chiaroscuro labyrinthsof imaginary spaces: tiled roomswith curtained double beds, vestibulesopening on a damp square of pavementwith an arched doorway where an aging procuressflashes a coin ... a Flemish genre paintingwith dollhouse perspectives and trompe-l'oeil.Sometimes when I'm feeling sexyI imagine a whorehousefor women—a sort ofRoman bath with Doric columnsand mosaics, where male modelslounge about like flesh and bloodclassical statues, recliningwith draperies loosenedand wakening erectionsto make me feel desirable.I'd be done in sheer black stockingsas for a visit to the Louvrewhere guards in uniform would winkat visitors who fondle sculpture.68