An excercise in mood.

VILLE.
An exercise in mood.

I MUST CHANGE. CHANGE MY MOOD OR CHANGE MY MIND.
MUTTER MUTTERING TO MYSELF, COME ON GET UP, AND GET OUT OF HERE.
UP I GOT AND THREW SOME WATER IN MY FACE AND WANDERED OUT INTO THE
MIDDAY HEAT.
TOTTERING AS MY FEET HIT THE ROUGH ROAD AND EVERY WHICH WAY SPLAYED
LIKED A DRUNK. A DRUNK WITH SLEEP STILL IN MY EYES AND MY
THOUGHTS.
THE HEAT REFLECTING OFF THE PEELING WHITEWASHED WALLS ONTO MY FACE, AND
DOZIED ME FURTHER STILL IN MY LOVELY LETHARGY.
WITH SANDLES FLOPPING SADLY MAKING DIFFERENT CLICK CLACKS AS MY LEGS
DELIBERATED THEIR LAZY WAY ALONG, FLINT FRAGMENTS OF THOUGHTS PIERCED
MY CLAY MIND, AND SILENTLY I SPOKE TO ALL THOSE THAT I PASSED ALONG THE
WAY.
I WANDERED ON BATHING IN THE WARMTH OF THE GENTLE BREATHS OF AIR, WHICH
BRUSHED MY STUBBLY FACE.
MEANDERING THE NARROWS TOWARDS THE CAF?, GARNISHED BY MY LAZY FRIENDS
SWEATY BODIES AND THE LOVELY AROMA OF ALMOND SHARP THIMBLES OF BLACK
COFFEE, AND THE TABLE WITH A CHAIR LEANING FORWARD, MY RESERVATION
TICKET INTO THEIR LIVES.
NOT THAT THERE WAS MUCH COMPETITION FOR TABLES FROM THE NATIVES AT THIS
TIME OF THE DAY.
THE SUN AND HEAT GREW MORE INTENSE AS THE SUN LAZILY ROSE. I DREW
NEARER TO MY DESTINATION, AND MY HEART QUICKENED IN TIME WITH THE PULSE
OF VOICES.
UNAWARE, MY FRIENDS AS THEY TALKED, IN QUIET MURMMERED DESCANTS, FORMED
THE SCENE OF THEIR OWN SECURITY.
THEY GREETED ME AS I SETTLED DOWN IN A SLOUCH. THE OLD WAITER CAME AND
I ASKED FOR A PASTIS.WHICH I SLOWLY SIPPED.
MY PASTIS, WHICH I HATED, BUT WAS MY PENENCE FOR THE INTENSITY OF
PLEASURE GIVEN TO ME BY THESE PEOPLE.
THEY, LIKE WHIRLING EDDIES OF WATER WERE TALKING THEN LISTENING,
ALLOWING EACH OTHER TO BE GOD AND CONGREGATION IN TURN AND TURN
ABOUT.

THE INTERPLAY OF THEIR CONVERSATIONS WAFTED GENTLY AROUND AND ACROSS
THE TABLE. EACH OF US RELAXED AND ENJOYING THE SENSATIONS OF OUR YOUTH,
TESTING THE UNKNOWN, AND OURSELVES.
WE LISTENED TO TRUTH SPOKEN WITH WIT, WITH GUILE, AND BY ACCIDENT. AND
SPOKE OUR HALF LIES WITH LOWERED LIDS AND SLY GRINS. AND OUR FOOLISH
LIES, WHICH WAS EACH ONE AN EXPERIMENT IN TESTING THE LIAR AND THE
LISTENER.
THE EVENING DRIFTED SLOWLY IN ON US. THIS UNION OF SOULS, WE WERE
LULLED BY THE DRONE OF OUR OWN INFLEXIONS AND GLANCES. MEN MENTALLY
WERE PAIRING THEMSELVES OFF WITH THE GIRLS. SLOW THOUGHTS OF HOW TO END
THE DAY.
THE GIRLS WAITED WITHIN THE LIGHTNESS OF THEIR CLOTHES TO CHOOSE OR BE
CHOSEN. PERHAPS TO CONTINUE AN UNFINISHED DANCE OF LOVE WITH THEIR MAN
WITH LEGS APART AND WOMBS ABLAZE.
AWARE, SO THAT WORDS SPOKEN AND GESTURES MADE CONCLUDED THE DAYLIGHT
INTERCOURSE.
EACH IN THEIR OWN TRICK WAYS WAITED TO PLAY THEIR PART. THEY FORMED
LITTLE GROUPS AND DEPARTED WALKING SLOWLY PAIRING OFF, WITH DRIFTING
MINDS AT LAST TIRED IN A GENTLE HAZE.
THIS,OFTEN REPEATED AS WE SOFTLY SAT OUT OUR FRENCH SUMMER SCENE.
STRANGERS IN A FRIENDLY LAND, WHICH WELCOMED US AS THEIR OWN. LOCALS,
PASSING, OR SERVING US AT TABLE, HELPED US TO PRESERVE FOR ALL OUR TIME
IN OUR MINDS EYE BY LITTLE KNOWING SMILES OR SOME CURTEOUS GESTURE,
PERHAPS A LITTLE BOW FROM THEIR PLUMP WAISTS. THEY MADE US SAFE FROM
GROWING OLD LIKE THEM, BY THEIR GRACE AND THE PEACE IN THEIR FACES, AND
THE SPARKLE IN THEIR EYES.

CHAPTER TWO
SLOWLY WAKING WITH THE WARM SUN STREAM ON MY FACE AND ARMS. THE BED
CREAKS AS I SHIFT, AND SOFT FRONDS OF VIOLETTES HAIR TICKLES MY NOSE
AND CATCHES MY HEART IN A SPASM OF LOVING EMOTION.
I MOVE MY BODY IN CONTACT WITH HERS AND FEEL HER WARMTH. AS I INHALE
HER BODY SMELLS, I AM STIRRED TO LOIN FIRE. ERECT I AM READY TO
PENETRATE HER MOISTNESS, FOR LUST, FOR HABIT, FOR RELEASE, AND FOR
CONFIRMATION AS I SERVE AT THE ALTAR OF OUR LOVE, SO WE TOOK COMMUNION
TOGETHER.
WAKING PROPERLY AT LAST I RISE AND SPLASH COLD WATER ON MY FACE AND
SHUDDER AS IT TRICKLES DOWN MY CHEST.
THE THOUGHT OF FOOD IS NOW URGENT, SO I HUNT THROUGH THE DEBRIS ON THE
TABLE, PAPER BAGS, JARS, BOXES, TINS, ANYTHING WILL DO. I FINALLY
SETTLE FOR DRY BREAD AND JAM AND WARMED UP COFFEE FOR SATISFACTION.
LATER, I FIND SOME SUGARED ALMONDS WRAPPED UP IN A LITTLE LACE HANKY
FROM A LONG FORGOTTEN WEDDING, THESE I SUCK NOISILY WITH
CONTENTMENT.
IT IS NOW NEARLY SEVEN. AND FROM THE BALCONY OF OUR ROOM I LEAN AND
GAZE AS THE STREET SLOWLY COMES ALIVE. I HEAR WOMEN SHOUTING TO THEIR
MEN TO ARISE AND BREAKFAST. THE CRYING OF BABES, AND THE HUM OF LIFE
BEGINS.
RUBBING MY GRITTY EYES AND SUCKING MY ALMONDS I WATCH, AND FEEL THAT I
TOO MAY BE WATCHED IN TURN.
NOW, VESPAS AND LAMBRETTAS SPRINT BY BELOW, CAREENING ON THE ROUGH
SURFACE OF THE ROAD. EACH DRIVEN BY MEN WITH THEIR WOMEN SIDESADDLE
BEHIND THEM. MAKING FAST FOR THEIR WORK, STARING AHEAD WITH THEIR TEETH
BARED AGAINST THEIR SPEED.

A PRIEST TOTTERS BY WITH TINY TIPTOE STEPS, LENGTHENING HIS SHORT
PILGRIMAGE FROM A DYING OLD LADIES BEDSIDE. A SOJOURN HE DETESTED, TO
HIS HOUSE WHERE HIS HOUSEKEEPER WOULD HAVE HIS BREAKFAST READY. AN
EVENT HE ALWAYS ENJOYED. GIVING SUCCOUR TO THE DYING IN THEIR SMELLY
ROOMS BY THEIR SOILED BEDSIDES, MUMBLING HIS WAY THROUGH A ROSARY OR
TWO. APPLYING EXTREME UNCTION, AND COMFORTING THE RELATIVES, AND
ESCAPING AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE FROM THE SIGHT OF THIS GOD WHOM HE
FEARED, AND FEARED TO LOVE.