Christmas Day in Paris, 2006

By Adam Gibson ©

i went to meet sam and mick
somewhere near st michel
where they said they'd found a restaurant.
it was called le something-or-other and
it was off a street i was familiar with
so i headed out from my flat near place d'italie
in the grey late morning.

it was christmas day 2006 and
the day was cold but not as cold as it could've been
and i found the restaurant with little drama
and upon entering was quickly directed to the back
where i found sam and mick sitting at a table,
a bottle of wine half-drunk already
and half a basket of bread already gone too.

we ordered our meals from a waiter with
longish blonde hair and blue eyes and
an air about him which suggested
he knew the secrets of paris far better
than we could ever hope to.

we ate our way through several courses and
drank several more bottles of red wine
and there wasn't much more to be done than
to order another bottle …
and so we did,
celebrating christmas day
away from all sense of home in paris –
three willingly homeless men
all wondering why
we weren't at home.