I know, in a deserted neighbourhood
a place that has a flavour
of well-off small town.
Here I discovered a few months back,
stuck between two houses,
a tiny shop.
A nice black cat was sprawling
on the doorstep as I came in.
He raised his gaze toward me
and seemed to say as he saw me
"My oh my, a customer...
That is a fantastic event !"
This antique shop
was arousing my curiosity
due to its old-fashioned look.
A frail sounding small bell
started ringing.
In the quiet and warm silence,
all of a sudden, out of the blue,
a small old man with a gentle stare
saluted me extravagantly
and I had the strange feeling
to experience an ancient moment,
very far from our present time.
I haggled for an old book
whose leather binding
kept the smell of closed rooms.
Then, for some reason,
I started after a while
to talk about something else.
Now the old man had no clue.
This really came as a surprise
to see the man
knew absolutely nothing
about the facts and events
other people were passionate about.
He knew nothing of this era,
be it the main figures
or the foremost matters,
and it might have been the reason
why this quiet place
had so peculiar a mood.
I bought the dusty book
and went away with a happy heart.
The ever so jaded black cat
with a small wink
seemed to say impishly
"You would not have thought that possible"
I went away, and that is all.
My story ends there.
For there is neither ending nor moral
to this story.
Still, when I get too depressed
by the gossips they spread,
by the sickening scandals,
by the revolting methods
of the political sharks,
in order to get away from all this
I go and spend a couple of hours
in this small shop.
Ospite 2015-08-09
enise
PaotrLaouen
Mar, 29/09/2020 - 15:51
This is really an atypical Piaf song.
She uses rather formal French (with a couple of mishaps!) instead of her usual mix of idioms and slang. It's not one of her main themes either.
I did not know the song, but it is quite a pleasant discovery.