La Belle Dame Sans Soucis

I do not need a muse

 Floating like a mid-morning thought 

To remember

The gentle breeze 

That left  me lonely

 On an August night 

When hands that had made 

Breakfast 

On a snowy morning 

Waved goodbye 

And left the door open 

 I do not need a muse 

To paint photos of blue seas 

Where I left a name so short 

That a midnight breath 

Could hardly recall 

After a search in the narrow streets

Of a city where a secret was shared

Next to a building of old stones 

And never repeated 

Over time

Continents

And lonesome sunsets

 I do not need a muse 

To know that I still can 

On a full moon or through 

A desert storm 

Repeat 

What was once left 

With me 

As the door was left open 

And I was left to wonder

If I could still find words 

Colours 

Or a simple touch 

To paint the gentle breeze 

Of an August night 

Next to the bluest sea 

But now I know

That

All I need is to keep 

The door open 

And when on a humid night 

I hear distant thunder and the promise 

Of rain

Away from the seas

Away from cities of steel and concrete 

I secretly let the desert whisper again 

A name 

So short 

So it simply 

Feels good 

To not have a muse

But to know

That I once 

Had 

One 

 August 27, 2020 

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2020 

 I took this photo with a 1954 Canon L3 rangefinder during a concert by Andrea Bocelli. The slow speed of the shutter made it a parade of memories, muses or ghosts on that stage…