I
I crouched upon cushions and wallowed in their somnolent caresses,
And--listening with dread for the moment of my own silence
Rending the flimsy lace of whisperings--
My gnome dances before me
Behind a fan of smoke,
My dwarf squats on my shoulders
Tweeking their moulted wings,
My ape peers in the mirror of my face
Mimicking my soul's gaunt gestures--
My wolf bays through my moonly loneliness
Blotching the night with howls--
My laughter goes whining away on the wind,
Laughs that are whipped by a soul too sick with merriment,
Too satiate with humour's emptiness!...