Tuesday, 11 October 2022

Sweet Sixteen

 




A blue cardboard Vanguard 

its paper-thin veneer already 

peeling, expanded accordion style

to hold her summer au-pair wardrobe.


At Charles de Gaulle she's wearing

a cherry-red two piece/frock/jacket affair 

from Alexander's drapery shop at the bottom of The Square.

You'd spot her coming a mile off.


But French teens don't wear suits

she finds. It's all ponchos 

and bell bottoms 

and nonchalance.


The cherry is boxed in accordeon blue

and she acquires the local intonation

even the neckerchief 

tied a la Bardot


but doesn't quite manage

the Gallic shrug, the insouciance,

the Je ne sais quoi...

Thankfully...


Copyright 2022 Cathy Leonard All rights reserved

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