Requiem for Paris
by James Coburn
In Paris, crossing the Seine
On a bridge of stone,
Footsteps beckon our arrival.
The Seine reflects
A cityscape lit by windows
Framing candle light spinning
Fervent creation of new life.
Something wicked wants to pass.
Abandoning life for a lie,
A war on the age of reason.
Come what may, but I will cross,
The blood stained eyes of terror
Shot by jackals to make war.
Lap up blood for a dead idea,
Fermenting silence.
I will pass with the martyrs
Of liberty.
So dawns the light lifting
Souls to the heavens
Crossing the Seine where lovers
Held hands for centuries
To deliver this light of day
Overcome chaotic darkness
With beauty shining
Without fear of hollow men
Whose bullets
Scatter like rats
Amid self-imploding bombs,
Knowing nothing of gates unlocked.
Transcendence
Grows in cracks of stone
From wind born seeds tending
Their flock of humanity.
There is only the river flowing
Engaging the fire to ruin.
(Editor’s Note: To submit poetry, prose, short stories, art or other creative writing for Sunday Funday, please write to editorial@nondoc.com. Other submissions for commentaries or reporting can be sent there as well. NonDoc accepts submissions from all over the world and seeks to provide a platform for a diverse group of voices. As always, Letters to the Editors can be submitted by emailing letters@nondoc.com. )
Previous editions of Sunday Funday
Sunday Funday 11/15: Lady and the app
Sunday Funday 11/8: Pyramids and riverbanks
Sunday Funday 11/1: Bacon to be Born Again
Sunday Funday 10/25: ‘Words’ for the King of the Fall
Sunday Funday 10/18: We died happy, offline
Sunday Funday 10/11: ‘Seeing life in all its folly’
Sunday Funday 10/4: Land and time not in my backyard
Sunday Funday 9/27: New definitions, baseball and Short Order Poems
Sunday Funday 9/20: With others ‘losing,’ Trump says, ‘Hadouken!’
Sunday Funday 9/13: Kanye West and a man who smells
Introducing Sunday Funday from Mike Allen
