Paris, Friday the 13th 2015

Paris 2 
 
 
 

“Scène surréaliste.”
I opened the French dictionary and the first word I saw was “rompu,” broken.
            Night does its star turn.
I have been to Syria.
            “The pure cold light in the sky.”
I have been to Kuala Lumpur.
            Moon shows her gleaming face.
I have been to Riyadh
            Near and far
I have been to Paris
            In our bones and
I felt safe in all those places…then!
            In our virtual circumstances
Now, I don’t know…
 
The beautiful light crowning that old tree says Paris
            Night
The busy commuters driving home say Paris
            There, in the sky
The birds alighting on that wire overhead say Paris
            Out of reach
The sky darkening as night begins to fall says Paris
            Turning, giving its all in its burning glory,
Those three young Muslim women I saw in the post office say Paris
(I wanted to warn them)
(I wanted to warn them)
            Tonight and every night—
And keeps (like Paris) its deepening mystery
 
“We are facing an unknown and historic situation in Paris.”
 
And keeps (like Paris) its deepening mystery
Tonight and every night—
Turning, giving its all in its burning glory,
Out of reach
There, in the sky
Night
In our virtual circumstances
In our bones and
Near and far
Moon shows her gleaming face
“The pure cold light in the sky”
Night does its star turn
“Scène surréaliste.”

 

Jack Foley
Art: Elena Caldera
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2 Responses to Paris, Friday the 13th 2015

    1. Lovely and poignant poem and reading. You voice the descriptions and ideas beautifully. Merci, Mercy.
      Bravo, brava!

      Janet Eigner

      Comment by Janet Eigner on 22 November, 2015 at 3:16 am
    2. Jack, Adele (and Janet):

      Jack,
      When I heard this/saw this, just now, I was reminded of your post-9/11 words, Jack; you, like Auden decades before, evoking an equally broken September. And oh my Janet’s visual: another disturbing and stunning capture of Paris.

      This is so sad and beautiful and all I can do is hope that it — and we– are not so ‘rompu’ that we don’t break apart altogether.

      It means so much to me personally to hear you and Adele read together again.

      Susan

      Comment by Susan Stone on 24 November, 2015 at 1:57 am

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