Girl Powdering her Neck by Cathy Song is written with a painting perspective with reference to Ukiyo-e by Utamaro. The present poem is based on a picture, a special kind of Japanese woodprint by famous printer Utamaro; she meditates on the art intently until she gains a vision on the life of the courtesan (rich prostitute) depicted on it, and on the nature of human beauty and appearance. The poem describes the image of a girl printed in Ukiyo-e. The whole description is of painting, and the painting is the image of bathroom, the time is morning and the girl is inside the bathroom.

       She puts the clothing revealing the nape of her neck and curve of shoulders. Some of her body is uncovered. She has to appear seductive to males. She has been preparing herself in such a way to attract males. The girl belongs to lower strata of the society, her occupation is her compulsion. It is something, she is made to choose. Throughout the poem, the girl is silence, but for the first time, she opens her mouth as if she is going to speak something or break the symmetry of silence, but she closes her mouth. She is trying to express her existential angst. She is not perhaps satisfied with her job. Therefore she might have tried to relieve herself through expressions, but immediately after that she becomes aware of social reality.
      Until now, she alone is the sole witness to what she does. But after expression, the whole society will come to know what she does. Then there will be double exploitations social cum physical upon her. In order to avoid this social exploitation, she remains silent. Her reality is vast and unpresentable. The capitalistic institution transforms the human beings into monetary beings and one is compelled to earn for living at any cost. This girl is dancing as per the demand of capitalism but her male partners remain free when she suffers. She is representative of humanity in general. This poetry is trying to show that social life and professional life as prostitute cannot exist together. If she wants to live professional life, she should leave social life. If she wants to live social life, she cannot leave professional life so she has to leave one for other.

Girl Powdering her Neck - Poem by Cathy Song

from a ukiyo-e print by Utamaro

The light is the inside
sheen of an oyster shell,
sponged with talc and vapor,
moisture from a bath.

A pair of slippers
are placed outside
the rice-paper doors.
She kneels at a low table
in the room,
her legs folded beneath her
as she sits on a buckwheat pillow.

Her hair is black
with hints of red,
the color of seaweed
spread over rocks.
Morning begins the ritual
wheel of the body,
the application of translucent skins.
She practices pleasure:
the pressure of three fingertips
applying powder.
Fingerprints of pollen
some other hand will trace.

The peach-dyed kimono
patterned with maple leaves
drifting across the silk,
falls from right to left
in a diagonal, revealing
the nape of her neck
and the curve of a shoulder
like the slope of a hill
set deep in snow in a country
of huge white solemn birds.
Her face appears in the mirror,
a reflection in a winter pond,
rising to meet itself.

She dips a corner of her sleeve
like a brush into water
to wipe the mirror;
she is about to paint herself.
The eyes narrow
in a moment of self-scrutiny.
The mouth parts
as if desiring to disturb
the placid plum face;
break the symmetry of silence.
But the berry-stained lips,
stenciled into the mask of beauty,
do not speak.

Two chrysanthemums
touch in the middle of the lake
and drift apart.