The poetry prompt is contemporary cityscape for Haibun Monday at d’Verse poetry pub, but shaken not stirred with non-traditional form. I chose the fib.
My wife and I check out. Hurry downstairs across the street to the café. He is waiting outside, a black man, we are white, we embrace. A poet friend met through my blog. An interview through coffee: he leaves for work, we have a train to catch. Around the circle to Rue de l’Alboni, past the swirling traffic and the blinking green cross. I hold her hand. I always thought New York was a fast city, but Paris… ah… the Gallic shrug, just this once, being an Ugly American would be justified. Instead, I smile and pull my leather jacket closer. I love trains. I walk east down the platform. The light is crisp, the iron work and glass, all sharp angles: I pause where the overhang meets the stone lattice on the building across the tracks. All the vertical and horizontal lines: I wait for the carriages. Rubber wheels silent.
Pont
de
Bir-Hakeim
reveals Tour Eiffel
wrought iron dominates bright sky
Cool! Very nice read…
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Thank you very much.
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ooooh. the details are vivid making this more of watching and feeling while reading. 🙂
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Thank you. The details match the picture.
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indeed. 🙂
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Nice play of words.
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Thanks for commenting.
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Good work there…i love it.
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Thank you very much.
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I recognise Paris in your haibun, Brian. especially in the walk down the platform: ‘The light is crisp, the iron work and glass, all sharp angles:’ I love the way the Tour Eiffel emerges in the final lines of the poem section.
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It was an overnight stay during a week in London. I’d like to go back.
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I love your description and imagery 😊
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Thanks, the picture is a favorite of mine.
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“The light is crisp, the iron work and glass, all sharp angles: I pause where the overhang meets the stone lattice on the building across the tracks.” The images and tone are so sharp here ❤️
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Thanks for reading and liking the sharp edges.
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I love the scent, details of the place and scent of cool air ~ Good for your to meet a fellow blogger Brian~ This is my favorite part:
The light is crisp, the iron work and glass, all sharp angles~
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Thanks Grace. The best part of our trip was meeting so many blogger friends. The worst part was knowing we’d never see them again.
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“Around the circle to Rue de l’Alboni, past the swirling traffic and the blinking green cross. I hold her hand. I always thought New York was a fast city, but Paris… ah” I love that “you and me against the world” aspect of you and your wife holding hands.
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Hold hands or get swept away. She wasn’t feeling well that day and we cut short our explorations to head back early to Gare du Nord for the train back to London.
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I love this Brian, especially ‘wrought iron dominates bright sky’ and it brings back happy memories of Paris.
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It was cold but bright blue skies. We took the Metro and then the RER to Notre-Dame and had lunch nearby.
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Merveilleux! :o)
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Oui. We ate at ‘Breakfast in America’ for lunch and the place was packed with locals and our waitress was Canadian.
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Superbe! :o)
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The wrought of the iron describes urban landscapes well.
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Such a strong word coupling: wrought iron.
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sounds like the days of our lives!
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Make a good soap opera.
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You know?!
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The flinty tycoon, the small town girl, the hard boiled private eye, the mystery of the diamond necklace. Watch the next episode of ‘Wrought Iron’ on Thursday.
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At 6 (pm) or the rerun of the rerun?
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If it’s on HBO, then after GOT. I don’t watch television too expensive for the same old reruns of recycled plots that Plato once espoused. And on that note, I am off to lunch. 🙂
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🙂 … and then there’s Plato.
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There is nothing like Paris light! The pix of the train and station was perfect for the text.
if you go back…you will find it very different I fear. But then again…once there….the similarities will jump back out. A sharp and lovely vision.
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Things change, the world has changed, but it is ever so. I am sure during the Occupation of Paris – any of them – the citizens said ‘you should have been here 10 years ago’.
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I do love the meeting of poet friends, it has happened only occasionally… but every time it’s something waiting to happen… the details of Paris makes it like seeing another old friend… (maybe there is a parallel there)
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I think there is. Friends made online have a different layer when meeting in person.
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iron work and glass…..and silent rubber wheels. Just think how different the train stations of Paris are to the raucous teeming train stations in India. Cities vary in their grittiness…in their way of being “alive.”
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I do think cities are alive. They certainly take on the characteristics of the inhabitants. My favorite though is Grand Central Terminal in New York.
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Sounds like a good time was had by all. The last time I was in Paris was 10 years ago. It doesn’t seem to have changed much in its essence.
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This was nine years ago next week. It was an overnight trip from London.
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Geez, it’s been 40 or so years since I lived in Paris but this makes it feel like it hasn’t changed. There is a feel there that can’t compare with any other place and you created it. That bridge is not familiar to me and I’m guessing that somewhere along the line the name was changed.
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It is the bridge just south of the Eiffel Tower crossing the Seine. It was named the Pont de Passy in 1906 but was changed to Pont de Bir-Hakeim in 1948. It is elevated high above street level and there are stairs and an escalator down to the river. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_de_Bir-Hakeim
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Your dynamic prose made my photographer’s genes tingle, made me want to capture what you saw & shared so beautifully for my digital album. So much detail from such a short stay; remarkable. I get envious when poet bloggers meet in person, smashing the cyber glass ceiling, face time, yes.
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I think 10 years ago bloggers were more apt to meet in person. We met three other bloggers in London. I have few photos left of the trip due to the hard drive crashing as well as the replacement. This picture and maybe twenty or so others were posted on older blogs and thus saved in the cloud. I used to take pictures all the time, but w/ digital cameras sometimes the software is not compatible for uploading.
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Well conveyed story of your personal experience and encounter with Paris, that brought the Parisian vibe and energy to life. The wrought iron is wrought with imagery. 😊👍
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Trying to distill the essence of an hour into a poem. Glad you enjoyed.
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Sounds like a delightful trip…even if it was a cold day!
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Yes it was, fond memories.
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It’s a great photo…especially that it’s black and white, your words complement it beautifully.
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Thanks. I used to take pictures all the time. I’ve always liked buildings and the way the light plays in the shadows.
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I enjoyed the pairing of the photo with your prose….and how wonderful to meet some blogger friends in person.
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It was great, really the reason we went on trip.
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I like the details in this piece. Felt like I was there in Paris.
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Thanks, the details always matter. 🙂
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