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From Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Second Fig”

 

SAFE upon the solid rock the ugly houses stand:

Come and see my shining palace built upon the sand!

 

 

***

 

See Paris First

 

M. Truman Cooper from “Swamplands of the Soul”

 

Suppose that what you fear

Could be trapped, and held in Paris.

Then you would have the courage to go

everywhere in the world.

All the directions of the compass

pen to you,

except the degrees east or west of true north

that lead to Paris.

Still, you wouldn’t dare

put your toes

smack dab on the city limit line.

You’re not really willing 

 to stand on a mountainside

miles away,

and watch the Paris lights

come up at night.

Just to be on the safe side,

you decided to stay completely out of France.

but then danger

seems too close

even to those boundaries

and you feel

the timid part of you

covering the whole globe again.

You need the kind of friend

who learns your secret and says,

“See Paris first.”

 

 

 

 

The Chickasaw Plum  -  Volume II - Number 7 - July 2005

 

 

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