AT MIDDAY 973

A MAN AND WOMAN IN PARIS IN 1973

We'd been

and stood

by the Arc de Triomphe

had coffee in some street cafe

and Sonya

talked about existentialism

and Sartre and Camus

I sipped my beer

and watched her lips moving

and how she had brought

her blonde hair

into a fine ponytail

and the top

she was wearing

was nice and tight

and kind of hugged her breasts

and her eyes

so ice blue

I wanted to drink there

or maybe swim around

one creates ones own truth

she said

there is no objective truth

and I noticed how

she sat

the way her legs

were crossed

and how her foot dangled

as she spoke

sandalled foot

red-painted toenails

or there is also

the leap of faith idea

she went on

and I wondered

if when we got back

to our hotel late evening

and she was still sober

or I

whether we would

have sex and that

kinky foreplay

like we did late night

or that time

at midday.