A Room for Dreaming
03.18.2012 
The state we are in
as we leave agent and owner,
the lease in our hands,
the room a dream come true,
the room where a deeper dream
will unfold.
A three-year lease. He doesn’t want to sell.
His son might use it for college,
his three-year-old son.
Galettes at Breizh, a new find—
might be the best in town, though any would be
in the state we’re in, the world perfect and full.
From one end of rue Vieille du Temple
to the Seine, dark waters, shivering,
a ghost memory, I dive in
to another river from my houseboat
on the Thames, swim to a swan
who hisses and strikes like a snake
my hand, protecting her cygnets.
We head east on the Quai d’Orléans.
There! Look! Right above Notre Dame,
Venus and Jupiter shine, so close
they seem to be signaling, so bright
they seem to be speaking.
And there! Two swans on the bank
of the Seine, one with head tucked into wing,
the other grooming his feathers.
I remember Zeus disguised as swan
ravishing Leda, her hyacinth-colored eggs bearing
Castor and Clytaemnestra, Helen and Polydeuces;
remember the swan poems we wrote the year
we met, calling out to each other,
“Cob!” “Pen!”
We look back from the Pont de la Tournelle
at Our Lady’s eastern face, the skull
that shows in the dark.
The sweep of light across the heavens
from the tip of the golden tower, Jupiter and Venus
like swans curved in embrace.
And it seems to us that all that matters
is that we turn again
and again to love.
Reader Comments (32)
To both of you, Bon chambre!
And Bon vivant to you, John! (Which makes about as much sense, but we do love playing with the language.) :-)
Love,
Kaaren & Richard
It makes me want more than ever to decorate my back yard with a scale model of Notre Dame!
David
I am so glad for you! I have been in suspense since the last post. May it be a source of quietude and inspiration.
And post photos when you can!
Magnifique!!! Wonderful news!!! So happy for you.
Love the news; love the post; yes, turning again and again
toward love. What a way to blossom and return the gifts
of life.
David,
Only you could do this. And we think you should! Only please make a little cat door in it, so Marley can come and play with you. Okay?
Love,
Kaaren (and Richard)
Dear Varya,
Thank you! And thank you for your good luck wishes.
Photos? Hmmm. We'll think about that. I'd have to find a photographer. Let's see, who...
Happy to hear your real estate news as well!
Love,
Kaaren (& Richard)
Beautiful!
XXX,
S
Susan!
How happy I am when YOU like something we've done.
Much love,
Kaaren (& Richard)
kaaren.....felicitations. you did it. and now you have your writers space to root all that pulsating energy. Plus...you have a new area of town to discover. see you the 16th april,
jeannette
Jeannette,
Thank you for your words!
Can't wait to see you in April. We've missed you this winter.
Much love,
Kaaren (& Richard)
Ah... so beautiful! This is just breathtaking. Really. The poem and the images. You've both outdone yourselves, if that's even possible! As always, I'm grateful to you both for sharing these gifts of exquisite words and images.
And I am ecstatic for you, Kaaren, about the chambre de bonne! While Richard has the city as his studio, you will have your writer's room under the eaves... private and quiet with a view to inspire. I couldn't be happier for you!
Sending you much love and warm wishes for a smooth transition to your new creative space.
~ dawna
Suki,
Thank you, darling sister. Turning again and again toward love: we learned that from our parents, didn't we? I am so grateful to them for giving us their own example as models of love. The gifts of life: they're always all around us, if we just look through a clear lens. I love those days when inner and outer are so attuned, so full of blossoming. (They balance the days of drought.)
Love you,
Kaaren (& Richard)
Gosh, Dawna,
I'm just thrilled by your words. This is about one of those days that felt like the moment when a peach is perfectly ripe and the world becomes still on a delicious summer day (though it was night and winter). And what did Richard do but come up with a photo I'd never seen of a Van Gogh graffiti. What could be finer?
I have had in my mind the image of a certain writer's room I saw years ago with a wrap-around desk on which you could place many writing and collage projects and scoot from one to the other with a rolling chair. And this is what I will finally have. Also a place where you can leave everything out without cluttering your home. Ahhhh. We all have different versions of heaven and this is mine.
I still have a few weeks to go before it will be in move-in shape. Thank you for your loving wishes, Dawna. What a friend!
Love,
Kaaren (& Richard)
Oh Kaaren, Yes!!! So happy to see your dream come true. A room of one's own, indeed. You deserve it, your writing deserves it, and all is well in Paris. Beautiful poetry and images in this "chapter.," And the last one was like taking yet another delightful walk with you!
How is it that even the smallest details of your daily life are so rich with sensuality? Both you and Richard have magical eyes that make everyday life just seem luscious. I may practice living a morning as if I were Kaaren, more conscious and open and embracing simple things, as you do, with so much love.
Venus and Jupiter... so bright they seem to be speaking. After reading that, I will surely hear their conversation next time I get a glimpse of them. Thank you so much for enriching my life in so many ways. Kisses and hugs, Diane
So beautiful and that city, you got it good, girl! I will have to travel to Paris when Connie returns. Maybe next spring break, since my little house will be rented. Your poem makes me nostalgic, isn't that what poems are supposed to do?
loved the whole entry and I finally did get it when you sent me the second link. Brava Ragazza!
Merci bien, ma chere Carol! What fun it will be to see you here. Do you mean spring break this year or next?
Did the poem make you nostalgic for Paris, or nostalgic to write more poems?
Ragazza: I have to look it up!
Love,
Kaaren (& Richard)
How perfect. I am so, so happy for both of you. I love the swans and I love the last line! Yes, please, photos soon, if possible--and if such an almost sacred place can be shared in that way.
Love,
Jennifer
So very lovely. So content for you. Especially as I sit here, trying to write to the symphony of leaf blowers.
(But there are hawks at twilight. There art I happy!)
Yes, wealth is different to different people. You, my dear friends, are wealthy indeed!
The photos...and sentiment...are stunning!