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| Photograph from Zen Master Bon Yo (Grazyna Perl) of Paris Jan 18, 2013 |
In black and white,
these pictures take me back
to a time and place
long since gone
where the ghosts of
Simone de Beauvoir,
Albert Camus and
Jean Paul Sartre
gather in a sidewalk cafe
to discuss the meaning life.
or on a more romantic level
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
steal moments of bliss
while bundled tight
against winter's chilling cold.
these were times
when my parents,
long since gone,
were young and vibrant and alive
and I was not even a dream
for either of them.
the sanctity of our present
when it meets with our past
brings forth a flood of emotion
for a bygone age
I was never part of.
yet here - it is now
alive in these B & W Photographs
from my lovely friend Grazyna Perl
posted on the internet.
thank you for a glimpse
into the present
by way of an emotional link
that brought the past
clearly into my heart tonight.
I have not been back to Paris
since 1978
I remember the cafes
the bread and the beer
the vibrant life on the street.
I was young and skinny
back then
I smoked too much
but I loved fully.
now I am a hermit
living in the desert
old and fat
and knowing that
life is brilliant
wherever it appears,
it is a gift of love
that the universe
puts forth each moment.
don't wait
for anything
follow your bliss and the doors
of the universe
that once seemed
to block the way
will fall away like a bad dream.
