Paris (Revised)

Paris (revised)

Paris,

Shadowed,
Tunnelled,
Tenebrious
Old bourg,
Glittering vainly
In the past;

Fortified
With ipods
And cell phones,
Fleetingly
Focused and
Unfocused
aliens,
citizens;

With
Hairdos, boots,
Silk cravats and
Colored scarves--
Some humans
Attention
ain't human
elegance;

Where shopping
Substitutes
Cheaply for
hierarchy
And homeless
Armies on
The canals;

Long journeys to Day
Short jaunts to Night where,

Well chiseled
Facades bow
One to the
Other, dykes
Repelling
Vigorous
Day as much
As flowers
Stretch sunward--

Umbrell-ed
Metropole--

Daydreaming
People down
Her sidewalks
Shuffle while
Studying
Cobblestones
Dark with age,
And searching
For Haussmann’s
oases,
Middle-class
Safety Valves,
Monopolies
On envied
resources;

Properly scarved
Republicans
Claw their way out
Of stinking
ratful caves
And labyrinths,
Escalating
Like moths.

Living as
Advertised.

Paris,

Neither Eiffel’s
Nor the martyr’s—
Baudelaire’s nightmare:
A dim damp bourg
Burning bright on
A Page.

technorati tags: poetry, poem, paris, france