La Rive Gauche Pense

On the first morning of my arrival in Paris, I found myself standing on Pont Nuef. The thing that struck me was the hundreds of locks linked on the wires of the bridge. I asked a local artist what it meant and she said it was lovers locking their promise to each other. It is a beautiful sentiment and the city itself has inspired not only my own muse but so many others. Make a promise to yourself and lock it to your heart and stand true to your word. And with attention and a bit of work each day, you will glow in the results of your work.

La Rive Gauche Pense

Notre Dame hides the sunrise,
streaks of purple burning blue
reaching for strutting steeple arms,
shadowing the temple with nobility.

I,
alone,
am walking along Pont Nuef,
memorizing the rhythm of
the Seine River.

Pulsing,
dark wet,
flowing like
breath.
Square gray stones
in stacked lines,
perfectly mortared
like lovers.

Steps of time
stand in as story keepers;
the cool air once yours, now mine,
fills my lungs, knowledge to my eyes.
Red wine quiets her chalice
fulfilling our shared hours;
locks linked for a lover’s promise,
art leaning on iron lattice.

Red apples fill worn baskets, rising
words slip easily from my lips
releasing the inner battle of my thoughts.
Secretly, once a dream,
rests on the statue of my sleeve,
I am living.

I stop and sit on the bridge,
the old, new bridge…
my thighs aching,
thinking thoughts in French.
Laughing freely…
does it take time to fall in love?
Or does it take time to be in love?
Who could know as clearly as an
engraved stone being worn by the
passing breeze.