Toussaint
Yesterday in the wind a walk
Up rue de la Résistance past
The College Joseph Calvet
A flat ground paved
Circled by platanes and cedrus
Where the kids assemble and
Dissemble raucous in their
Endless puzzlements but
Not this week when
Toussaint holiday frees them
And calls in a crew of men
Yellow jackets and white safety
Helmets spreading tar-scented
Asphalt then rolling it flat
With a clanking roller bringing
The world around and down
Blunt and hard, pressed, mashed
Their gift is some kind of love
Adoration under a cerulean sky
©R Young
studio arago 