DAYS OF 1901

    What set him apart was,
    that amidst all his depravity
    and his extensive amorous experience,
    despite all his habitual
    accord of attitude and age,
    there were moments
    - though naturally very rare -
    when he gave the impression
    of virtually untouched flesh.
    The beauty of his twenty-nine years,
    beauty so seasoned by wanton pleasure,
    at times strangely recalled a youth who
    - rather awkwardly - surrenders
    his chaste body to love for the first time.