Bleu

Armand in his atelier

Le croix de Cathar

Bleu

Cobalt

As the tiny rivers

Winding beneath

Papery thin skin

I watch as they have slowed

But remember their faster pace                                                    

Armand et Auguste

Cerulean

As the plastic cannula

From oxygen tank

To your nasal orifice 

Easing each breath

Your hands reach for me

Offering each cheek to be kissed

Royal

As the dancer

In the flames

As you welded and forged

Iron and steel into magnificent forms

Gates, railings but also art

A band of musicians

Prominent upon your mantel

My own, croix de Cathar

A gift like your friendship

Armand

Bleu shall forever

Be the colour of you

Increasingly fragile

As you reach out for Auguste

The great-grandson who shares

Your sparkle from cobalt eyes  

–

Bisous,

Léa

Nothing like Paris

“In France we have a saying, “Joie de vivre,’ which actually doesn’t exist in the English language. It means looking at your life as something that is to be taken with great pleasure and enjoy it.”   –  Mireille Guiliano

“When I was a child and they burned me out of my home, I was frightened and I ran away. Eventually I ran far away. It was to a place called France. Many of you have been there, and many have not. But I must tell you, ladies and gentlemen, in that country I never feared. It was like a fairyland place.”   –  Josephine Baker

***

Nothing like Paris

There is nothing

Like Paris

But the explosion

Red on purple

On gold

Sunsets along

The bastide

Of Saint Malo

*

Nothing is

Like Paris

Save the winding

River

Tower Bridge

de Cahors

le diable

Watches us

*

There is nothing

Like Paris

Unless you visit

Narbonne

Soak up the sun

Near Place de ville

Reach out and

Touch or

Walk upon

Via Domita

*

Nothing is like

Paris

Yet

Collioure’s jewels

Dazzled Cézanne,

Picasso, and now me

Precious stone colors

Hover at the foot

Of the Pyrenees

*

Nothing is like

Paris

Each of

France’s treasures

Priceless jewels

And must be

Explored, discovered

Its riches

Precious

As you find them

Leave the guidebook

Then you must

Open your eyes,

Your mind and your

Heart

Your reward to find

La belle

France

*

Bisous,

Léa