Here is one of the few poems that I have learnt by heart recently.
It has become one of my "party pieces"!
IN PARIS WITH YOU
Don't talk to me of love. I've had an earful
And I get tearful when I've downed a drink or two.
I'm one of your talking wounded.
I'm a hostage. I'm maroonded.
But I'm in Paris with you.
Yes I'm angry at the way I've been bamboozled
And resentful at the mess I've been through.
I admit I'm on the rebound
And I don't care where are we bound.
I'm in Paris with you.
Do you mind if we do not go to the Louvre
If we say sod off to sodding Notre Dame,
If we skip the Champs Elysées
And remain here in this sleazy
Old hotel room
Doing this and that
To what and whom
Learning who you are,
Learning what I am.
Don't talk to me of love. Let's talk of Paris,
The little bit of Paris in our view.
There's that crack across the ceiling
And the hotel walls are peeling
And I'm in Paris with you.
Don't talk to me of love. Let's talk of Paris.
I'm in Paris with the slightest thing you do.
I'm in Paris with your eyes, your mouth,
I'm in Paris with... all points south.
Am I embarrassing you?
I'm in Paris with you.
James Fenton
James Fenton was born in Lincoln in 1949 and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford where he won the Newdigate Prize for poetry.
He has worked as political journalist, drama critic, book reviewer, war correspondent, foreign correspondent and columnist.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was Oxford Professor of Poetry for the period 1994-99.
In 2007, he was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.
Take a look at: http://www.jamesfenton.com/
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21/03/08 @ 19:50