Paris in the Afterlife
In my dream
I am
always in Paris
just as the undergarments of her city
slip
slowly from view Here
the
smoke is violet and thick with steam
rising
from lovers partings
on
railroad platforms and under moonlit bridges
To the
left and right
her
voluptuous pillows--soft and yielding...
straight
ahead--her rod-iron cathedrals
pointing
where I do not know
Already
my balcony sighs I will wait for you
as I
pack up this day in my invisible suitcase
(an
overnight bag)
and
set off into the mysterious fog
with
only my breathless wonder
to
vanish into Memory's landscape
like a train through a tunnel
Dreams
are always on time
are so
obliging seductive
do not
question why you leave
where you are from
invite you
to cross
the frontier
the dotted
line
of reality
and illusion
permit you
to paint unframed
what you
cannot see
With our feet planted firmly on the sky
we are
all Impressionists here
Surrealists too
making our way into the
canvas--a floating island--
the soul of
Creation
just waiting to be
reborn
With each first
brushstroke I
take
the dark syllables of
night
find their shape and
form
translating me into a
new language
My consonants
once flat and bone-dry
vibrate now with pink
flesh-toned vowels--
sound with new colour
and meaning
though
they too will slip from view
With each first breath
I
take
I am becoming who I
am
more of who I wish to
be
One moment-- a
single leaf blessed by the sun
Another--the
rain with such small hands
rowing to God
Nothing goes so
well with Everything, I say
as I squeeze this
too onto the palette--
a silent scream in
surround sound
coming to a cinematheque near you
In my dream
I am always coming to
you--
coming becoming
overflowing with desire--
my breasts brimming
with sweet cream
in buckets of
champagne--
the
white napkins and handkerchiefs waving
in train stations
on boats of departure
springs of arrival
atop staircase landings
in between sentences
returning home
by way of expectation
What is Paris if not to expect?--
if not to dream of
her to want and wish for
an experience that
takes you beyond
the borders of your own
imagination--
the
landlady who wore mops on her feet
and skated down
the corridor to keep the floors clean
the
neighbour who had his cat stuffed
so he
could rest in peace in the storefront window
the lover
who landed in the mental ward of Hotel
de Dieu
who escaped in his
pajamas one night in the rain
who was dragged
from the entrance of Saint Julien le Pauvre
who stood on the bridge
and jumped into the Seine
Every night I bury the
dead
and keep the dream
alive
In my dream I expect
you are always
more than a little mad
In my dream you are
beautiful and eternal
like Paris like
the Light
which pours through my
skylight just now
which sits waiting on
the balcony waiting
In my dream
I am always you waiting for me waiting for you
I am coming I am coming I whisper
to all my lovely ghosts
In
my dream you are Paris
and Always
Antonia Alexandra Klimenko was first introduced on the BBC and to the literary world by the legendary James Meary Tambimuttu of Poetry London–-publisher of T.S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, Henry Miller and Bob Dylan, to name a few. his death, it was his friend, the late great Kathleen Raine, who took an interest in her writing and encouraged her to publish.
A nominee for the Pushcart Prize, The Best of the Net, and a former San Francisco Poetry Slam Champion, she is widely published. Her work has appeared in (among others) XXI Century World Literature (which she represents France) and Maintenant : Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art archived at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
She is the recipient of two grants: one from Poets in Need, of which Michael (100 Thousand Poets for Change) Rothenberg is a co-founder; the second—the 2018 Generosity Award bestowed on her by Kathleen Spivack and Joseph Murray for her outstanding service to international writers through SpokenWord Paris where she is Writer/ Poet in Residence. Her collected poems On the Way to Invisible is forthcoming in 2023.
This is love. This is beauty
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