"I've Never Been to Paris" by Damion Hamilton‏

I've Never Been to Paris

But a friend of mine has,

He's an older gentleman, and

Has a wife from Argentina,

The both went a few weeks

Ago, and he's showing me the pictures

On a laptop, cuz I will probably

Never get to Paris-- yet this

High definition camera he has,

Makes it seem like I am already there

Everything in Paris seems old--

The streets, the buildings, the metro station

And somehow the streets don't seem as crowded

As I thought they would be-

My friends were sitting down a café, and they

Were the only one's there,

They show me the Seine, which is a small river

Compared to my Mississippi

The Gargoyles impress me-- they

Are there to protect the city

I feel wistful and can not help think of Hemingway

And the lost generation, Joan of Arc, Rimbaud, Celine,

Bernadette Soubirous, Frank O'Hara or my friend Francois Bennett

I think of fashion designers and rich people, even though

They have nothing to do with the pictures,

I think I would feel lonely in Paris-the city seems too old

And unreal

I see the cathedrals and the painted glass which are very beautiful

And make see sad somehow,

But I like the people in the their small cars and motor bikes

Drivers seem more courteous in the states,

Paris does seem to be a wonderful city,

And I always seem to be looking for it

Carrying it in the small neighborhood

Of my heart