Jean Cocteau Poems

...Preamble

A rough draft
for an ars poetica
...

Grave mouths of lions
Sinuous smiling of young crocodiles
Along the river's water conveying millions
Isles of spice
...

The boys in striped knitware
make the waves sprout--is it a storm?
Everything coos and the bathing girl
consults the mirror of the skies
...

Take a young girl.
Fill her with ice and gin
shake it all up to make it androgynous
And return her to her family
...

Pepita queen of Venice
When you go beneath your shutter
All gondoliers call out:
Watch out--Toreador!
...

Orson Welles is a poet
through his violence
and through his grace.
Never does he tumble
...