THE WRITERS POST (ISSN: 1527-5467) the magazine of Literature & Literature-in-translation. VOLUME 5 DOUBLE ISSUE WINTER 2003 SPRING 2004

UYEN NICLOE DUONG _______________________________ LES PAROLES TO SIR WHO GOES TO PARIS Leave your door open tonight, ‘cause I will creep in I’ll talk to your heartbeat Tales of the affair between Paris and L’Indochine I’ll breathe onto your heart memories of girlhood and paint onto your mind images of what I once saw of my beloved Paris so when you roam the city of love, city of lights, city of revolution, nurturer of the misfit, the rejected, the vagabonde You will see what I saw and embrace my soul to find unison in my beloved Paris and when the morning sun paints shadow upon your face, Le depart, by sir who goes to Paris Je t’ai apporte des bonbons, du chocolat, du croissant, et du fromage Tout le monde fait ca ici in my beloved Paris I once tiptoed along the bank of La Seine, seeing lovers’ embrace wishing I could grow up so fast to make love to you I once rolled upon the wet leaves of Le Jardin de Luxembourg, longing for womanhood when these leaves would turn into your caress I once peeped inside the boutiques de Champs Elysees imagining me in ligerie, high heels, and a Dior hat, devenir ton amante That time never came, and somehow the affair of Paris and L’Indochine turned into gunshots, guillotines, airlift and evacuation Somewhere between Paris and L’Indochine, I lie stoic and silent awaiting you, still Grandmere, from the soil of Southeast Asia I can still hear you cry Maman, agee et gentille, still talking of everlasting love Et toi, ma tante, tata, you and the glory of your Vietnamese opera stage Wake up, the women of the East, from tomb, bed, stage, and dream and tell me, how many years has it been since I left your womb? If I am to hear the footsteps of love, why does it come so late? Quand, qui, and comment de dire ce grand amour qui me dechire So, sir who goes to Paris, tear the sky of Paris for me, rage over the horizon of L’Isle de France and rush, rush to me grab, feel, and taste and leave nothing unsaid Rush, rush against time horseman, boxer, L’avocat, conseil, man of the world run up the steps of Sacre Coeur bow to divinity, and love me full as though tomorrow would soon be Apocalypse down to Monmartre, capture my colors in the artist’s eyes and find, too, the house of Dalida, upon her breath I sing Besame, besame mucho trace for me the steps of Josephine Baker, upon her feet I dance Samba samba samba comme le mambo mambo la Reach for Notre Dame’s Rose Window and picture Esmeralda through Quasimodo’s longing Stroll through L’arc de Triomphe, triumph, please, triumph over me in the golden sunshine of Paris (sparkling like les cheuveux blonds of the Sorbonne girls), you reign over me like love itself back to Quartier Latin, follow the church bells of St. Germains des Pres, gather for me, sir, pieces of my girlhood catch Buddha’s statue in the house of the Vietnamese ladies of Pigalle on the cleavage of Moulin Rouge dancers glance inside Sartre’s cafe, Deux Margots, where life and hell are both here, Huit Clos No Exit and move on, my love, reviens, reviens, and blind yourself unto me once more, in me love’s no exit But when the moon hangs over La Tour Eiffel When all lights die out on Le Theatre de Moliere Out on L’avenue de L’Opera, the affair between Paris and L’Indochine has ended you return to L’Hotel Parisien, alone, sir who has gone to Paris Look, look, my love somewhere in a dark alley, at the end of a long and narrow corridor, I may be lying, hopeless and breathless, Lips apart, limbs abandoned lusting love, loving lust awaiting you, still Viens, viens, mon amour, vite et tout de suite Come to me, with cuffs, feather, bonds and bondage to complete my being and rewrite for me girlhood from its beginning UYEN NICLOE DUONG · THE WRITERS POST (ISSN: 1527-5467), the magazine of Literature & Literature-in-translation. VOLUME 5 DOUBLE ISSUE WINTER 2003 - SPRING 2004 Editorial note: All works published in this issue are simultaneously published in the printed Wordbridge magazine double issue 3 &4 Winter 2003 & Spring 2004. (ISSN: 1540-1723). Copyright © Uyen Nicole Duong 1999, 2004. Nothing in this issue may be downloaded, distributed, or reproduced without the permission of the author/ translator/ artist/ The Writers Post/ and Wordbridge magazine. Creating links to place The Writers Post or any of its pages within other framesets or in other documents is copyright violation, and is not permitted. Return to Contents HOME