
Adolphe Valette
farmer flows fox press bow butterflies
ravage songbirds munching dazzled palms tomatoes
she could have married
a french farmer who grew tomatoes
near a pretty village where the river flows
filled with songbirds and butterflies
she could have attended mass
every sunday in the old village church
pressing her palms together
and bowing in prayer
a tradition the congregation still practised.
mais non
she was too dazzled by city life
munching croissants
reading books in cafes
wearing her fox fur and
dreaming of becoming
a philosopher
I'd have picked the second option too I think.. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd why not? Adolphe Valette was a late Impressionist painter who I think was a great artist. I am glad you featured him here Cressida.
ReplyDeleteThose are good dreams
ReplyDeleteSuch a contrast in the two lives........I love the first one best.
ReplyDeletelove a woman who goes against the flow
ReplyDeleteGood for her.
ReplyDeleteAh.. sometimes dreams can lead us in a different direction. Beautifully penned.
ReplyDeletemais oui, ce etait tres bonne.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. "Dreaming of becoming a philosopher"
ReplyDeleteMaybe we are all philosophers, if we decide to think st all.
LOL, I would have chose the farmer for awhile and then left him for the city. I like this poem very much. I especially love his paintings of Manchester in the fog. Thank you for presenting him.
ReplyDeleteAnd no doubt some farmer's wife is glad she made the choice she did! Great poem.
ReplyDeleteWell written comparison of life, (I found both appealing)
ReplyDeleteLovely dreams :)
ReplyDeleteHow lucky was I, to want and have the second life first, in my youth, and now to be enjoying her first option when I'm of an age to appreciate it (though quite happily sans farmer).
ReplyDeleteI loved the turn in the poem at "Mais non." I could hear it in so many contexts -- the young woman with a toss of her curls, a gossip talking over tea, her mother with a bewildered sigh. Just wonderful!
ReplyDeleteNice write Cressida, such is the stuff of dreams
ReplyDeletemuch love...
Monday WRites 121 is live. I invite you to link up
ReplyDeletemuch love...
I love this woman! May she and her kind grow and prosper and populate the earth with their independent ways!
ReplyDelete