dressed in a parisian plumber's outfit,
blue overall and pullover,
the year is 1905.
poor,
he lived in a tenement,
shadowy, dirty corridors,
no electricity,
no heat,
one single bed
2 people to the room.
painting all night, he
slept during the day.
max jacob,
alternate users of the bed,
kept also opposite hours.
when jacob woke in the morning
(to let picasso have a turn at sleep)
his feet tracked across the drawings of night,
leaving footprints,
problems for
art experts years later
spend careful hours
removing those poor footprints
that covered the colors and notions,
the blue and green beggars,
the prostitutes, the sick and
lame, who hungrily held and hold
down the paper, resting
in the blue
period.
one hand on each side of the glass,
it is 1976,
copies of his “cock of liberation”
are hung on the walls of museums, art centers & homes.
the sunday monding paper
is spread across out living room floor,
opened to an article by his daughter.
“it was 15 years,” she says,
“before I realized
he meant no harm
in painting my new shoes.”