Midnight in Chinatown
For Charles
We forsook the hotel
late though it was
for the busy streets sloping
up and down
under bright signs
of unknown figures.
Stores lined with vibrant
merchandise were yet open,
casting light and voices
onto our path. Together
we ambled
these lively ways, two
unknown figures ourselves,
seeking the world.
Parisian Anecdote
For Stephanie
In the gentle rain that night,
the city shone. Even down on the pavement,
the puddles glimmered
with impressionistic light. Together
we ventured through this dream,
from awning to awning. We
found the antique grate
of A La Petit Chaise,
first established in the daring days
of the seventeenth century,
and inside, amid ample cheer,
we were ushered upstairs,
where the windows framed
tableaus of streetlights and artful angles.
We were seated next to Parisian
reflections of ourselves,
and from beneath the immaculate curtain
of their table’s linen, a Jack Russel terrier
peeked up, sensing, perhaps,
a familiar affection. “Jacques,”
said the man, and the dog received
a few happy fragments. I told the couple
that we too had a Jack, ours named Jack,
and before they returned
to the luminous night,
the man placed Jacques
in your lap. You laughed
and petted the little dog,
and we exchanged with the Parisians
smiles, these being more eloquent
than our words.
Header photo "Lucky Cats" by Frank Malawski