chagall backdrop

Years ago
I studied French
took my cassettes
wherever I’d go

would carry my Walkman
partout

écouter et répéter
everyday on the subway

pretended I was
sur le Metro

would sing
with Aznavour
(my back turned
in the shower

my hands like another
lover’s, running
down my back)

trimmed my mustache
a la Hercule Poirot

smoked, opined existential
posed as Sartre would

cried in quiet solitude
painted my face
just like Pierrot

and ogled the ladies
as Vadim must have
Bardot

peut-être jusqu’à demain,
peut-être un autre jour

© Chagall, 2013