Paul Gauguin: Au Café (Mme. Ginoux) 1888

(also known as Café at Arles)

 

My elbow’s weight upon the table pressed

Makes me feel strong and calm; for I am sure

That all those blank-eyed men behind me – poor,

Half-drunk, half-sleeping sots, think I too rest

In senseless dreaming sludge.  But I am dressed

In formal dark and white.  And on the floor

A small cat watches, happily alone, each paw

Set firm, its haunches straight, its breast

Puffed out complacently.  The smoky haze

Is like a cloudy screen which severs me

From their dull, doltish world.  It is as dense,

As solid as the snooker balls.  The days

Of my bold gaming drift off noiselessly.

I sit and almost smile at my good sense.