The Old Men + 

Old men who have studied + 

every leg show + 

in the city + 

Old men cut from touch + 

by the perfumed music⁠— + 

polished or fleeced skulls + 

that stand before + 

the whole theater + 

in silent attitudes + 

of attention,⁠— + 

old men who have taken precedence + 

over young men + 

and even over dark-faced + 

husbands whose minds + 

are a street with arc-lights. + 

Solitary old men for whom + 

we find no excuses⁠— + 

I bow my head in shame + 

for those who malign you. + 

Old men + 

the peaceful beer of impotence + 

be yours! + 