Swizzle Stick

In France I Danced

in France I danced
a warm waltz through a park for Bastille day
across the Rhone with the Avignon bridge
on a Seine houseboat with a band & a mic
at Le Bataclan on a tumultuous rock & roll floor
in my kitchen singing new turns of phrase
at a party compensating with bodily expression
around the violence seething in my marriage

In France I romanced
in the pointillistic haze of summer twilights
with booksellers expert on the river banks
with municipal flowers flawless & orderly
my recognition of scattered cathedrals & castles
in taking my coffee at the counter unseated
with a crazy multitude of tiny cinemas
my marriage mistake & pretending

In France I enhanced
my skill in my kitchen learning new food
the English of my exacting corporate students
the life of a street cat bleating for love
myself on the streets always walking & watching
my English through teaching & French
my mask & a lived kind of secrecy

In France, I danced, romanced, enhanced.
In France I danced, & changes advanced.