Forget Monet / Matin Plus

 

Rachelle Bijou

 

Forget Monet

New York may be bracing
for storms
            but Paris is absolutely balmy
with people bracing
                      for nothing more
than more
            champagne

Luxe, calme et volupté

Walking by the hyacinths—jacinthes
in front of Plaza Athénée along avenue Montaigne
these February days
            you come to know
why odor in France is l’odeur

The Seine ’s gurgling

while the sun
—a dead ringer for a Don Flavin—
lances across the water

 

Matin Plus

—late again
and yes I should take the Métro
but the moment I leave my apartment
                                          rush to the corner
            turn left
am accosted by the winter sun
—an orange headlight
no Pantone number can approximate 

Alors, it ’s down the block                     to the bus

et voilà!
            Alma-Marceau and off I get
with no intention of taking the shortcut
to avenue Montaigne and the office
            —at least, not with the gardens
around François Première
still spiked with roses
in early December

Soon Woody Allen ’ll be playing Châtelet

                      Meanwhile
Kadifi ’s—Quaddafi—Gaddafi—Khadafy ’s in town