Stories by the Seine

 

Dusk descends on the city of Lights

And where would you rather go?

Let’s walk by the banks flooded with art

And see the river’s sluggish flow

 

The bridges criss-cross – some decked with locks

The city is in love, beyond its pains,

Notre Dame agrees, Come inside,

And hear the music of my colour stains

 

While Charlemagne asks, See beyond -  

My city has much you cannot see,

The dust settles, the sounds then freeze

And colours are found under a grey melee

 

A poet strives to break his block

A painter channels his tears of stream,

While Shakespeare becomes a tourist trap,

A lost soul hopes he can write his dream

 

The trader wonders if he can pay his debts,

A vagabond wonders, which arrondissement ?

Egalite, the city smiles – beneath the jazz,

The world, a veneer of scars and flaw

 

But there’s joy as well, eternal love

Hands held soft in their secret spots,

The Seine knows all and weaves through the board

The tower shimmers in crosses and knots

 

Life goes on, a Monet comes by

And dreams of waterlilies by a muddy pool,

Stein, Picasso, they are all there too

The sun also rises, isn’t that the rule?

 

My reverie breaks, the city moves again

As dusk on the Seine begins to melt,

The city of lights, though a canvas dream

Becomes an emotion that is only felt…

 

9^th March, 2022