“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors and laugh at them in our turn.” – Jane Austen
“Listen, you only tease the ones you love.” – John Boehner
“I have an intense dislike for artificial society. In France, one could lead a free life – to do what one wanted to do without interference or criticism from one’s neighbors.” – Robert W. Service
mon voisin aime me taquiner / my neighbour likes to tease me
jean est taquiner moi
he delights in telling
le monde
says i am a spy
for obama
the twinkling
dans ses yeux,
illuminating smile
gives him away
everytime
the hard rods of
steel
he shapes into
gates, railings,
le croix de Cathar
or the symbol of the
pays d’ Occitan
the flames of the
forge
a mask
outside
l’ atelier
le masque
tombe
*
bisous,
léa
poetry, photos and musings oh my! 
This is s terrific poem Lea. your way with interchanging two languages just gets better and better, so skillful. I like the sound of Jean!
Love
Christine
xxx
Oh Christine, you are so very kind. Actually, I use the French and read it to help me learn. French words sneak in while I am writing so I just let them have their way with me… 🙂 Jean is a character from a family of characters but all truly sweet.
Love,
Léa
xxx
BTW, the symbol d’Occitan was made by Jean’s father Armand and given to me as a gift five years ago when Armand was a young 88 or… 🙂 Whose counting? Pas moi!
xxx
Its wonderful! Such great craftsmanship. So many such skills seem to be disappearing. Xxx
I agree. Yet, they are flourishing here! Xxx
Thats good to know! Here the mass produced rubbish is winning, cheaper, easier to get, therefore skills no longer passed down etc, its sad xxx
Ah! I thought that was mainly in the states… xxx
Its here too! I expect there are rural areas where crafts etc are still done locally and with skill, but that’s in the minority. If we go for a day out in the dales or somewhere similar and buy something local its like we’ve bought gold! 😊
xxx
As you said, sad!
xxx
“You only tease the ones you love” so true! I love how you describe your neighbour, very imaginative and vibrant writing 😀 x
Oh Becka, how sweet you are! Jean is a character but I adore his family and they are so kind to me. His mother, Jeanne/Jeanette was my first friend here and she passed away last year. I do miss her. However, I still bake little cakes for his father, Armand, and took some photos of Armand and his long-time friend, Monsieur Jasse last Sunday. You should have seen Armand’s face when I gave him the photos. I had more made up for his granddaughter, Sophie, who is living in Paris and is always thrilled to have new photos of her grandfather. 🙂 x
It sounds like they are your family! It must be wonderful having people like that just next door 🙂 x
haha… that is cool when you have such a friendly relationship with your neighbor that you can tease each other and laugh together… thanks for the smile
I love your mixture of French and English and your neighbor sounds like a fun one! I hope all is going well with you. xo
Thank you Sheila. I try to put it down just as it comes to me. You do know how it is, slave to the muse… 🙂 Stay warm and dry! Okay, at least try to stay warm.
I’ll keep trying to stay warm with lots of chocolate chaud. 🙂