Max Jacob (1876-1944)

Max was in his ill-lit room
making fetishes for his friends:
little things with strange hieroglyphs
given for money or as treasured gifts.
his poetic air was patiently dark,
with drugs and rough house sex
enjoyed at a Monday evening get-together
held inside regardless of the weather.
lurking in corners smoking away,
his menacing friends wore white gloves
while watching amateur guests from afar
in an atmosphere most totally bizarre.
they would laugh at all their excesses,
their lack of scientific thought;
and encouraged to be inappropriate and morbid,
they did whatever it was they did!