Or Maybe Paris Circa 1954

Or maybe Paris circa 1954,
a student at a small bookshop 

on Rue Soufflot—
a boy or girl turning the pages

of a book I cannot afford
even after spending 

the morning dancing for change
under Le Pont Neuf

because I am saving my money 
to buy a clarinet 

which I will learn to play 
as well as I play the one in my mind

listening to Louis Cahuzac
in my room at the hostel

on Bd Edgar Quinet, where
before the war it would have cost 

much more to stay the night, 
and no one was ever alone (not 

at Le Sphinx). As for such things
as love, maybe I have, maybe I haven’t 

yet. But I will soon, and in Paris—
and what could be better?

I nearly forgot:

a M. Jesse took my photograph
today, for what I do not know.

Note: Inspired by the photographs of Nico Jesse in Women of Paris by André Maurois.

NATHANIAL LACHENMEYER

Nathaniel Lachenmeyer is a disabled author of books for children and adults. He has forthcoming/recently published poems in The American Poetry Review, Poetry International Online, Blue Earth Review, The Berlin Literary Review, North Dakota Quarterly, and DIAGRAM. Nathaniel lives outside Atlanta with his family. NathanielLachenmeyer.com.