French Letters
by F. J. Bergmann
je n’irais plus au bois
les lauriers ont pris racine
et Molière are overrated
and archaic, disorderly
even when sober and clean.
quel désordre! can’t take
you anywhere without
embarrassment de richesse,
embrasse-moi, you fool and
your money are soon parti
animal, vegetable or mineral
rights and privileges
droit de seigneur—fi!
flee! (à l’anglaise)
Legerdemain
by F. J. Bergmann
legerdemain Eng. n. skillful use of hands in stage magic; deception, trickery
léger Fr. adj. light, slight, lightweight
demain Fr. n. tomorrow
léger Fr. adj. light, slight, lightweight
demain Fr. n. tomorrow
The lightness of tomorrow draws us onward,
as if tomorrow were a thought bubble
we reach for with empty hands,
rising before us,
drifting away.
F. J. Bergmann lived in Paris, France, for two years as a child, at the best possible age for becoming bilingual.