It was there we met him, the man with the black beret
in the little car with his mother resting beside him,
her hair in soft silver curls

He waved us on to follow since they had finished

their picnic on the wrought iron bench overlooking the graves
of famous Frenchmen and forgotten soldiers

And our bicycles bounced down the cobblestone hill

racing behind the man with his mother in the little car
and were delivered safely to our campground
So as not to be remiss, leaning out the window

of the little car before departure, he inquired of us

“Did you know there are emus in the Ile de France?”

Author’s Note:

The evening I wrote this poem I was inspired by two works of art. The first was a clip of a movie that I can no longer find the link to. It was on one of my writing sites that just gave a long list of poets and what types of art inspired their words. I will find it and post it here so you can enjoy it as much as I did. (I found it at Poets and Writers. It is the Sans Soleil movie.)

The second inspiration came from a lovely poem by Robert Bly on Poem Flow. I was in awe of the depth and beauty in so few simple words. I must have read it, out loud by the way, twenty or more times.

These two pieces inspired me, as well as a faded memory of a bicycle trip to France in 1982.