I’m watching a journalist from France 2 or 3,
I watch Olivier Ménard from the TV l'équipe
I spoke to my conscientious mechanic on Thursday,
I observe the little baker who thinks alone,
I read the Blue Tunics, a french comic book,
I listen to my doctor go into retirement,
I watch Ancelloti talking about football,
I think of the city of Rouen, the firefighters
The lyric a great poet of the 19th century,
I marvel at all these nurses,
I fantasize about an actress named Louise,
I vote for a famous red union,
I listen to the raucous view of Radio Nostalgia,
I am thinking of Carrefour hypermarket customers
Alas, alas, only the birds love us.
RECIPE: “Poulet Roti” French Style - Ballade “Le Chant Royal” - 10
STANZA IX
Snubbed by Churchill, de Gaulle’s June 18th appeal
Saves not crushed Rouen, Paris to liberate
Triumphant Le Clerc hurries after ordeal
Did not Liberation make Resistants great
Nazi Chief’s deaf ear lets not Hitler burn Paris
Do the sacred cow Resistants scorn hubris
“Now e’en Presidents fear veteran Police!”
Ditto whole appareil judiciaire en lice!
Not till the last of veteran Combatants
Take Bastille Day’s Arc de Triomphe honoured place
Nor till Allied Forces be hailed true Conquérants?
ENVOI
Overnight the mother serves as plaything nice
For lawyers judges politicos police
All Free-Masons none resist as Resistants
No place for father and son in such premise
Nor till Allied Forces be hailed true Conquérants?
(c) T. Wignesan - Paris, 2017
I used to live in France, near the Champagne region.
My favorite Notre Dame cathedral is not the one in Paris;
Rather it is Notre Dame de Rheims.
After many battles, Jeanne D'Arc helped the Dauphin Charles
Be crowned the king of France there.
There are many statues in France of Jeanne D'Arc.
Most of them show her riding a horse with sword held high.
I've see that image in many Places in the north.
My favorite statue of her is in Notre Dame de Rheims.
She looks to be standing a vigil in her armor
With her battle flag posted behind her.
I've also been to Place Jeanne D'Arc in the city of Rouen,
Where the British tormented, interrogated, and immolated her.
It didn't look like a sad place, but I felt sad there for her.
I don't know if she really heard angelic voices,
But her story always inspired me--
Probably the only non-Biblical saint that ever did.
I look out from the stake
to where my judges are seated;
those proud men know nothing of me.
In Christ I am never defeated
though I will die here today,
condemned for my faith and my courage.
Let me look only at the cross.
The beautiful city of Rouen,
in the curve of the River Seine,
will witness the crime
that will live long past my time.
The bodies of a thousand men
decorate your majestic walls,
you are the bride of terror, torn apart,
a city without a heart.
I have heard the voices of angels,
the commands of God I obey;
though men think they have laid hell around me,
I will rise in the smoke up to heaven
just my shell in the ashes will stay.
And now, below me a scene that horrifies,
people screaming ridicule, irreverent eyes,
cruelty calloused, stare without shame.
My spirit hovers
a conscience pure, unstained,
I am neither a heretic or insane.
Copyright, September 9, 2015
Faye Lanham Gibson
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.