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Ode to the Poets of Paris

A poem for the pigeons of Paris … excerpt from my latest book "If Paris Were My Lover" …

MARTINA NICOLLS

Mar 9

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Paris belonged to no one, but the pigeons claimed it anyway. I wrote an ode to the poets of Paris – a poem for the pigeons, because someone ought to, and it might as well be me, since I am known for giving voice to the marginalized.

A poem for the pigeons of Paris … an excerpt from my latest book If Paris Were My Lover.

Ode to the Poets of Paris

They say the poets of Paris are found

In attic rooms with slanted light,

Scratching words into yellowed pages,

Drunk on absinthe, lost at night.

But I know better. I have seen them,

Winged and weightless, grey and free,

Perched on statues, cooing sonnets,

Dancing on the cobblestones in front of me.

No ink-stained hands, no velvet jackets,

No tortured sighs in candle’s glow,

Just iridescent throats that shimmer,

With verses only pigeons know.

They do not wait for love nor fortune,

Nor critics’ praise or poets’ fame,

They whisper poems into courtyards,

Unwritten lines, as if a game.

They wander where the people wander,

Tracing steps of years gone past,

Pecking at the dust of dreamers,

Loving slow life, not the fast.

They murmur love songs to the river,

To the rooftops, to the dawn,

To every half-lit, lonely morning

Where a poet’s heart was born.

Oh, Paris scoffs at them, dismisses,

Calls them common, calls them small,

Yet who remains when lovers vanish,

When poets fade and dreamers fall?

Not the muses, not the painters,

Not the fleeting hand of men,

Only pigeons, Paris poets,

Cooing love without a pen.

So let them linger, let them claim it,

Feathered ghosts on every stage,

For if Paris is a story,

They are the ink upon the page.

Grab Your Copy – Available now in eBook and paperback on Amazon.

Connect with Me – Find me here on Substack or on facebook.

“PARIS as I write” in “The Stories in You and Me” Substack.

MY PARIS WEBSITE AND ALL THINGS PARISIAN

MY PARIS BLOGS

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

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