The Descent from the Cross, 1917 by Max Beckmann
sleeper, wake.
shake off your rent and dusty garb
rise up from out your beds in
ruins made caves by fecund green,
and burst, erupting
from the vegetal skin.
then stand
and sway
and gaze transfixed at birds who never felt the weight of earth compressing wing or song.
Max Beckmann, The Descent from the Cross, Oil on canvas, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1917.