If only in my thoughts, I live in Paris.
My feet were actually on Parisian streets a couple years back and I lived my dream for a few days.
The best I can do to get back to Paris these days is get comfortable in my mother’s old gold French provincial chair, maybe read The Years by Annie Ernaux or Georges Perec’s An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris.
Trips to Paris are not cheap.
Living in Paris must be insanely expensive.
On that note, I find myself currently fascinated by those who ex-pat over the pond to escape the madness leaving the rest of us behind (and please excuse my French grammar) to faire du chambard.
To make a racket.
Before the Paris trip, I compiled what I call a chapbook of micros influenced by Nouvelle Vague films, the French New Wave.
Cafe Cheetah did not make a racket; yet, several included works were individually published.
Uplift was written post-Paris, post-Cafe Cheetah.
For those like myself who wander with eyes wide open, the City of Lights will reveal its shadows.
Thank you, Visual Verse: An Anthology of Art and Words for including Uplift in the final issue: Volume 10 ~ Chapter 11 (2023). Read the issue in its entirety here.
Uplift
The child and her mother sit bundled in the entry of a Paris church. The tourists walk and gawk and pretend not to see the mother’s hand reach out. She asks, not for me, but for we. Most wave past her, but some stop and place a euro, maybe two in her palm and cross the threshold into the sanctuary. A once grand lady with a plastic baby doll sits in a shadowy corner and whispers stories of a pink moon hung in a black sky. Sometimes, the child slips alongside to listen and the stories change to history, their shared history of the city where so many travel, yet fail to understand the struggles of the people. Today was a good day, the mother tells the child at home and slides the swirl of an onyx ring over the whorls of her etched knuckle.
On an up note.
Enjoy this recent Flash Mob rendition of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
Le Requin Chagrin makes an appearance in the video, marking the district as the 5th.
My favorite flash mob moment markers:
4:15: Air drum time - wherever you may find yourself, go for it!
4:35: Wayne’s World fan, no doubt.
May we always have Paris.
It is said that Freddie once said "do what you want with my music, just don't make it boring".
Thank you for reading.