Poem - Living in Paris Pigalle
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Once upon a time, soon, I would like..
to go and live in Pigalle
just for a month or two, probably
be the ubiquitous unknown poet
see sex and pseudo love and sadness
emulsified into one emotion
watch the whores waltz and the dancing girls dally
admire their French accents
at a distance
sip absinthe early in the doubtful days
then talk to the elephant behind the Rouge
watch the faithful clamber up to perch on Montmartre
soak up the culture of the performers
all the way from Africa
maybe like is not a strong enough word
to be a poet in Paris
and become what I might have been
doing these deeds in detail
scratching subconsciously
at the opaque glass of a tomorrow
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Albert Maignan - La muse verte
Alas the sad elephant behind Moulin Rouge was removed in the early 1900's however with the correct shade of absinthe it may be possible that it will reappear....
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Pigalle by Alberto Pozzi 1947
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Place Pigalle in winter by Edouard-Léon Cortes
Comments
des donnelly (author) from Co Tyrone.... on September 21, 2012:
Hi Vespa... thanks for the comment... I've only been to Paris once but think about it all the time and am always planning to go back. It has that undefinable attraction and you either love it or you do not...
Vespa Woolf from Peru, South America on September 14, 2012:
Beautiful imagery and memories. I love the stanza "opaque glass of a tomorrow". I love Paris and now I want to head back there!
des donnelly (author) from Co Tyrone.... on January 15, 2012:
@Alain... thanks very much for the comment, I must correct this then. Absinthe is a little like poteen here in Ireland, it has been illegal for years and years but people still make it and drink it...
Alain Ximmi on December 08, 2011:
Nice poem but the "the" in front of Pigalle isn't correct.
It's just Pigalle. Oh and finding Absinthe is nearly impossible, nobody drinks it anymore (plus it is illegal). The closest place to find some would probably be in Amsterdam.
des donnelly (author) from Co Tyrone.... on October 20, 2011:
rebekahELLe... thanks very much, I dreamed of going to Paris for years and so to eventually get there was fabulous and to soak up the sights and sounds and even just remember them is enough to carry one through the grey days...
rebekahELLE from Tampa Bay on October 15, 2011:
ah, yes, very nice. I have walked those streets and glanced up to see the windows dimly lit with shadows of lustful ladies peering seductively to those below. Paris is certainly a movable feast, as Hemingway once wrote. I love your poem and the images, delightfully perfect.
des donnelly (author) from Co Tyrone.... on July 02, 2011:
Hey Larry... thanks for the comment... it reminds me of something Hunter S Thompson said...
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
Larry Conners from Northern Arizona on June 24, 2011:
Drax...Keep scratching, my friend...soon the layers of time's grit will clear away...only to behold just another dirty, dank, and dangerous alley...
Nice flow and bright images of an imagined poets roost...Voted up..Thanks, Larry
des donnelly (author) from Co Tyrone.... on June 21, 2011:
Hi Majadez... yes Paris is always very tempting :-)
Majadez on June 20, 2011:
Beautiful images selected and I'm thinking that I want to visit the Pigalle myself now. ;)
