(inspired by Paris, France– July 2014)
A View from Montmartre
The Sacré Coeur blesses me tonight
under the gaze of les étoiles
the heat melting memories in late July,
fireworks still sticky on the back of my neck.
There’s a carafe for two,
at ease with you, laughter over the bill
as I’m blushing rosé confessions
beneath the terrace.
Hand-in-hand, we weave through streets
through boutiques chirping soldes
to Oxford men and their Gabbana wives
who strike cigarette poses in stilettos.
It’s at pont Alexandre III where I, eye-to-eye
in broken tongue, recite Élévation to you
while midnight lamps illuminate stars
along the Seine.
And I’ve wondered how Baudelaire must’ve felt
dreaming the language of flowers
while spirits, swooning in rhapsody,
profess:
je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais
je t’aime je t’aime je t’aime…
© Rebecca Goes Rendezvous, 2019
Rebecca Goes Rendezvous 