French Life
(After Wendy Cope 'My Lover')
For I will consider life in France as an immigrant
For at the age of 39 I became a deaf mute, my only form of communication a smile
For I clung to my French speaking husband's side
For when he left I had to confront the CAF, the CPAM and Les Impots
For I had to go to the car insurance company where there was a young woman in love with my husband
For the young woman would not understand a word I said
For there are people whose brain locks when they know you are english and they cannot understand even if you speak french
For this woman was not one of those
For my french improved as I fought frustration, tangled finances, illness and institutions, battling with administration which might have been easy in my own country
For in spite of improvement I fumbled for words and misunderstood,
For it is not just the language but a way of doing things and the french way is right
For I am just one of those poor lost souls who live in France because it is so much better than their own country
For I learned so much in my first year like, 'normalement' means 'most unlikely today'
For I learned not to put salad on the same plate as the main course and not to serve cheese before dessert because 'we can never go back'
For I learned that it is never 'me', 'you' or 'we' but 'on' because that way no one is responsible
For I learned to eat between twelve and two
For I learned a light snack must be taken between four thirty and five and cutlery not removed between courses
For I learned I must not say 'four thirty' and 'five' but use the twenty four hour clock
For I learned to write my family name first in capital letters and smoke profusely
For I learned that smoking is pas grave
For I learned that swimming in May carries a high risk of catching pneumonia and dying
For I learned when there is no road sign you must keep going straight on, even if the last road sign was five kilometres back
For I learned dog shit comes in a profusion of varieties, colours and shapes
For I learned 'ca n'existe pas' in a shop means 'I have never heard of it and refuse to look for it'
For I learned 'Mais oui en Angleterre…' accompanied by shoulder shrugging means 'What they do on the weird planet you come from is no concern of mine'
For I learned a social gathering is for everyone, toddlers, teenagers, twenty somethings, middle-agers, grandmas, grandpas and all of their dogs.
For I learned that this is an improvement on the weird planet I come from where toddlers must go to bed so mothers and babysitters must also stay home, teenagers are isolated and alienated and old people invisible
For I learned that when the sun shines most days, outdoors becomes an extension of your home and you feel you own the whole countryside
For I learned you can walk on any one of a million trails, that you can do this anywhere, anytime, because there are no fences, walls and hedges to keep you out and nobody minds you being there anyway.
For I learned that Art and artists are valued and respected and primary school children have poetry books
For I learned there are many people living lives without fitted kitchens, t.v.'s, garages, twenty four hour shopping, central heating, fast food, extensions and garden sheds and this can make for a more meaningful existence
For I learned to live without any of those things and my existence became more meaningful
For I learned people you invite to dinner do not care whether you have a loft conversion or where you bought your crockery, they just come to spend time with you
For I learned that when villagers of all ages come together to eat and celebrate the start of spring, the storming of the Bastille, the fete de la musique or the fete du village, there is a sense of being part of a community, which embraces even those who can't speak
For I learned the annoying dog that shits near my doorstep is beloved of Pierre the shopkeeper, the old lady opposite is called Marguerite, the hunter in the lane with his gun on Sundays is Michel my mechanic and when my son falls off his bike, Benoit, Camille and Mathieu will find me
For I learned that family is more important than work which is bad news if you want to buy a paintbrush at lunchtime, but good for the paintbrush seller's family and good in the end for this part of France where making as much money as possible is not the highest goal
For I learned it is good to stand in silence for a few moments after saying 'Bonjour' and 'ca va' to see if anything more needs to be said
For I learned you can make time to stop and stare
For I learned the names of many blue mountains and found river beaches
For I learned there is wild lavender high up, that garlic has pale pink flowers, thyme releases its scent when you run through it and wild orchids grow out of red earth
For I learned driving to the sea gives me a sense of freedom
For I learned the wind has a name
For I went to the Pole Emploi, the IPS and an Atelier cv and was helped and gained in confidence
For I went to see a gospel choir, to see drummers from Africa play in guinguettes at midnight and english men playing electric guitar where they could
For I stood on islands, in woods, on beaches of stone and sand, on red volcanic earth, in oliviers and vineyards
For I can see across the plain from my kitchen balcony where I feel the air settling
For I hear music coming from my neighbour's house, water falling from a fountain in the place, Allo Allo from the mairie's public address system
For I understand
Page(s) 6-7
magazine list
- Features
- zines
- 10th Muse
- 14
- Acumen
- Agenda
- Ambit
- Angel Exhaust
- ARTEMISpoetry
- Atlas
- Blithe Spirit
- Borderlines
- Brando's hat
- Brittle Star
- Candelabrum
- Cannon's Mouth, The
- Chroma
- Coffee House, The
- Dream Catcher
- Equinox
- Erbacce
- Fabric
- Fire
- Floating Bear, The
- French Literary Review, The
- Frogmore Papers, The
- Global Tapestry
- Grosseteste Review
- Homeless Diamonds
- Interpreter's House, The
- Iota
- Journal, The
- Lamport Court
- London Magazine, The
- Magma
- Matchbox
- Matter
- Modern Poetry in Translation
- Monkey Kettle
- Moodswing
- Neon Highway
- New Welsh Review
- North, The
- Oasis
- Obsessed with pipework
- Orbis
- Oxford Poetry
- Painted, spoken
- Paper, The
- Pen Pusher Magazine
- Poetry Cornwall
- Poetry London
- Poetry London (1951)
- Poetry Nation
- Poetry Review, The
- Poetry Salzburg Review
- Poetry Scotland
- Poetry Wales
- Private Tutor
- Purple Patch
- Quarto
- Rain Dog
- Reach Poetry
- Review, The
- Rialto, The
- Second Aeon
- Seventh Quarry, The
- Shearsman
- Smiths Knoll
- Smoke
- South
- Staple
- Strange Faeces
- Tabla Book of New Verse, The
- Thumbscrew
- Tolling Elves
- Ugly Tree, The
- Weyfarers
- Wolf, The
- Yellow Crane, The