Almost
(Near 92 Champs-Élysées, Paris)
Thomas Jefferson lived here
And slept here, it is rumored,
With a slave (not commemorated).
But wait, there’s more!
But wait, there’s more!
Corporal Robert Birlinger died here
Just two hours before Paris’ liberation.
The fireman turned soldier
Dared to cross
Avenue des Champs-Élysées
Leading a squad to fight
Blazes and German snipers.
Always a bad combination.
He almost made it.
He almost made it.
Shot in the leg, he
Gave up too much blood
For France,
While those who could help him
Were pinned down.
Some critics of Birlinger's small plaque
Some critics of Birlinger's small plaque
Tell a less heroic story:
A tank shell simply
Blew him apart.
But this all avoids the essential question:
Just before Corporal Birlinger died here,
But this all avoids the essential question:
Just before Corporal Birlinger died here,
Had he read the plaque above
What later would be his,
And realized that
And realized that
Thomas Jefferson always
Made it across the street?
-- Si Dunn
From the forthcoming book of poems and photographs by Si Dunn:
The One-Trillionth Picture of the Eiffel Tower
(Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.)
-- Si Dunn
From the forthcoming book of poems and photographs by Si Dunn:
The One-Trillionth Picture of the Eiffel Tower
(Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.)
