In A Parisian Crowd
by Michael Doyle

The French soul 
Is wrapped around
500 year old plumbing
Like a lump of coal
On a Christmas day
It has its significance
And at times its magnificence
But there's something to say
For finding other, better ways
And even the naughty find
It incredibly numbing
To find oneself in a gaze
More often than not
Politically incorrect these days
Faux culture pays in contribution
Clueless of an actual solution
But unable to even consider quitting
Guilty as it is, yet unable to acquit
Itself from a lifetime's habits
That assured itself of its rightful place
Brazen as a nude walk
Across the bridge to simply talk
Keeping astride the controversy
This is the French way, not heresy
It makes the stranger proud
To feel more lonely in a Parisian crowd
The joke of this truth is honesty of it all
Played like the knife that breaks your fall

(c) December 14, 2023   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved