July 17, 2008

Prelude: Paris

Paris
involved in a love affair with a rampant spring.
A crowded modern metro trip took me to Basilique St Denis
where pilgrims of centuries gone by gathered in the north
for the traverse of the city-
architecture spanning time
early crypt remnants
tombs of Kings Queens princesses.
Near Notre Dame, St Jacques tower stood against the sky in the spring sunshine.
I stood there thinking of all those who had walked before me on this route.
I was a tourist
but as I took the Rue St Jacques, climbing beyond the Sorbonne
it was as if I was already moving into a different world
where centuries merged.

In the church at Haut Pas
I greeted St Jacques
and it was as if I had turned my gaze backwards
with the throng of past pilgrims
to farewell the city.

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