CHARLES PEGUY'S PARIS
(1873-1914)

In your loft's window
sitting under the Paris sun
near the tree dusty shadows
in a accidental day dream
about a wonderful dawn
clouds glide by bird wings
like a poet in exile
with ever-fleeting looks
at Baudelaire's albatross and swan
searching for any smiling angel
with strings of a lost violin
of rabbis in Chagall in Vitebsk
next Peguy has a vision
of a time at peace
with Picasso's dove released
and the Messiah of love
carries a cross on his back
knocked kneed
on the bloodshed soiled earth
of the first world war
here I am by the cool waters
at the monastery by Mt. Carmel
near a fountain and pool
carrying your poetry book
dear Peguy to bring to school
hearing an old Jerusalem peddler
crying out in the soft rain
for his smiling daughter
to be careful of the desert
and not be a fool
as she mounts a donkey
going to visit the poor
housed in a shelter
waves with a Russian kerchief
embarrassed someone has sent
for a carriage
hearing chords in the distance
as a violinist plays a French tune
with wounded fingertips
caused by the war
on the western front.