Like starlings and swifts
Swallows and sparrows
Under drab dry stone eaves
Nestling pointed as arrows

Sharp Seineside reminders
These poignant remains
Hold heartfelt rejoinders
Leaves tumble like rain

In vain, Paris promises
Forever darlings
Give way to wry rifts
Lovers’ tiffs and sad snarlings

Wily weekends away
Romance reeling in trysts
In the mists of sly time
Slits on slim tattooed wrists

On the river, leaves drift
Giving lies to sweet dreams
Swirling round dreary drains
Desire rotting in reams

Signed, sealed and delivered
Their loves are locked down
Until spring thaws bring cold claws
Doves wallow… while drown

Then come green-clad municipal
Workers with cutters
Who clinically clear
Cast-away quayside clutter

It’s harrowing work
Carting love off in barrows
Harassed by grey ghosts
And bombarded by sparrows

🐦