Max Jacob
CHRIST AT THE MOVIES
"When you're eating fruit" chiid, spit
th~
§eeds out;
Or in your little belly a whole tree
¥iilt
§pfdUt,l'
They said in my house wheh I
wa~
a Bay;
That set me on the wrong ttack fot sure:
Brandies hi the navei meah fruit all the
rl16re.
A tree all
my
bwn
which no one takes away,
whtise
fruit, no sooner eaten, grows back every day!
I
hilve
trly
tree today: my tree is the Cross;
Faith
is its gift to my greediness.
Dryad of the gallows, when I summon you , come :
Rescue my life from its cruel humdrUrf1 .
bryad of the gallows, descend like yesterday
Evening
at
the movies when you sat by me
So
cldse.
Your hand! Put your hand upon mine
And your so-human warmth and
your
bre~th
divine.
Oh! I was sick and tired from
thinkirtg
too mUGh.
Let my body fold upon yours at
yout'
touch.
And you! You deigned, as your
shoulder
hid
ttiy
eyes,
To describe the movie and sort out the lines.
We had the cheapest seats, at ninety-five centime!!;
You spoke of charity before those murky crimes
The Parisian wants every night for dessert.
Today, I'm alone. Lord, groping at my side
My
eager fingers feel only the void.
Without you, my God, the world is blank, inert.
The eyes of my spirit sketch your body still,
But it's mere imagination, an act of the will.
- When I go lug my spleen through Montparnasse
Do
you want me to save a place in the cafes
For this body you give so generously
To the humblest, most useless, of servants: to me?
That idiot movie! Now I find it blessed
Since you deigned, so my faith would be redressed,
To sit at my side amidst your people there.
A movie seat held you! It is a holy chair!
