This hand has touched handrails
Of third World countries
This hand has even hailed
Some American cities
This hand has handled some gales
Far away and in wintertime…
This hand has carved many bodies….
This hand has shaken your hand,
Has caught your perfume ; smells so good !
With my hand, I write your name
And I see you graciously
Dancing with the music on the horizon !
†
2) The crisis...

Yersterday, I chatted with our go-between,
She was as solid as a beam.
Today, I looked out for you
Since we, together, had much to do.
Tomorrow, we shall have to decide
Wether to stay home or go outside.
We'll find an apartment that you like
Either in the city or at the seaside.
†
Yet ! the crisis is still there
But, please, get it out of your mind.
†
3) The Sunshine

You know that I live in a French paradise
But this year, something happened to my great surprise !
She came to see me, my Californian Sunshine :
For no one but Her, everybody had eyes !

Mistreated by her fiancé
Venus was not very happy !
So, my star penetrated bodily
The swimming ocean pools of Brittany

She was a bird afraid of cages
She was a book whose pages I could read
She was a little girl I took to see caves
She was a servant of whom we were in need.

Of Graciousness she was the faithful image !
On the breton sand she was the Sleeping Beauty
Everybody wanted to take her in marriage
Everybody but her regular fiancé…

4) Homage

When you lean forward graciously
You are a sexy-looking lady.
Your eyes sparkle ; your body
Is all attention, looking forward to
Being caressed endlessly…

You are a full-breasted bird
That I would love to see in a nest
Of extravagant velvet and silk…
†
††††† A Student's Prayer
†
Now I lay me down to study,
I pray the Lord I won't go nutty.
If I should fail to learn this junk,
I pray the Lord I will not flunk.
But if I do don't shed a tear,
Just put a rose behind my ear.
Tell my teacher I did my best,
Then pile my books upon my chest.
If I should die before I wake,
That's one less test I'll have to take.
†
†
††††† "Good Morning, Vietnam"
†
† Even though my lungs
† are those of an old man,
† anyway, I went to Vietnam...
† Because my heart belongs
† to a very young man
† I loved it all: Vinh* Ha Long,
† Ha Noï and old-world Annam.
†
† Having been born in Saïgon,
† Dearly, I love Indochina.
† But should Cochinchina,
† the Delta of the Mekong
† be my foremost priorities?
† Yes: women there are all beauties!
† Good bye, good luck, smiling Vietnam,
† Those best wishes from a French man!
†
† * Vinh = bay in Vietnamese
†
†††††† Feminism
†
Do I live in a right-handed world ?
Does it matter anyway ?
Is it really male-dominated ?
Is it invaded by chauvinistic pigs ?
Are electrons really negative ?
And those macho protons, positive !
Who decided it should be that way ?
But, perhaps, it is only hearsay !

Listen, for instance, to the weather forecast :
" Today, no rains, no stormy news,
No reports of frozen women… "
But tomorrow, who knows ?
We shall be told through a poll
That we live on a female-dominated
Anthropic cosmological Planet …
†
†
† A Thank-you note
†
Into Athens, Ohio
The middle of nowhere
We went to see Betty Hollow!
Everyone, Dean(s) and chair,
Sam, Lawrence and others
Were so good to us!
So many favors, goodies,
Lunches and parties!
Now, it's time for us to go,
to write a thank-you note
to reminisce the good memories
of being together
either here or over there.
Let the candle of love burn
forever and ever
and not be blown in the wind!
Betty, when we are away from you
We shall still be thinking of you
and of Athens, Ohio ...
Merci, au revoir et à bientôt!
†
† O.U. Progress Report
†
Even though I am retired and all gray
I did not come here to take a holiday!
Of course we did walk on Nature’s trails
and talked to trees, to squirrels and to quail,
All things considered to be good for one’s health
and maybe to steal one hour from Death!
†
Female Anglo-Canadian Literature
was the topic of my wife’s lectures,
which took place at the University.
Since I am a man of activity
with computers I kept myself busy,
typed reports and sent them almost daily
Through e-mail to a lovely French lady;
met a few French classes eventually.
†
What did we see during the Spring Quarter
while being in East-Central America?
The Black Hills in South Dakota
Its Mount Rushmore resembling a poster,
The Biltmore Estate in North Carolina
with its Castle and its May flowers;
also Gallipolis and Marietta...
The cities of the Gauls and of La Fayette
The latter named after Marie-Antoinette
†
† Cambodia, Progress Report
Phnom Penh, March 1998

† "these lines scribbled in haste, in my hotel room: It's funny how hard it's been to go against that French work ethic. Even with an open day ahead and an empty calendar in front of me (all the freedom in the world!) I made those first days an eight-to-six treadmill, marking off all I did accomplish bad and good on my personal notebook.
On the bad side: - computers which refuse to cooperate when told to “compute”; - e-mails which decide to stay in the outbox and not go when asked to do so; - people who are paid for accomplishing certain tasks and who are either lazy or incompetent or dishonest (usually all at the same time) and therefore can not get the work done.
On the good side: revisiting with oldtime friends, going out with them, planning a working session with one, a lunch with another, looking at smiles on women's faces, etc.
But today, even though it is a Thursday, relax. Let me play with time, with my freedom, with my thoughts, with the idea of love. Love of Indochina, Vietnam, Cambodia!
Why did I come to Cambodia in the first place? Why did I get so much involved in the aid programs of the N.G.O. (Non-Governmental Organization) SARICA? This morning, for instance, I had to say no. Yes, of course, the Cambodian Ministry of Education will get full proprietary rights on classes built by SARICA in the Takhmau School but SARICA will take back all equipment concerning the language department (tape recorders, listening devices, etc.) and the sewing formation (mainly sewing machines). During the last one and a half year, I was sick and tired to hear: “Yes, tomorrow, w'll get the equipment fixed up and we shall use it the following day.” Now too late; this morning, I got mad and I said: “No!” Quel courage! I just hope that everyone involved has understood the meaning of the word. At least it will serve as a leverage against further development and bargaining sessions. At any rate, now the air is still, dry and very hot, and tonight at 12 pm I can't sleep, so I am sitting up on my bed watching television, and writing, lonely as a pin on a world map."