Paris. Holy Week 2019. (Completed Version).

My life was transformed by Paris,
The City of Light opened my teenage eyes
To a classic grace London could not show me.
London became my second best home.

I discovered painting, ballet, music
Where Lautrec drew and Avril danced.
I learned to ditch crass nationalism,
To love philosophy, art, religion
In the wide shadow of Notre-Dame.
I learned to chitchat in two languages,
And how to mix them to make my own.
I learned to be a proud European,
Not just a bullish Englishman.

Last night I watched my world catch fire,
The flames crucified sweet Notre-Dame,
But the walls stayed intact,
The towers did not fall,
The Crown of Thorns did not crumble to ash.
The onlookers sang a sad Ave Maria
That made me pause, I knelt and wept.
These shared tears of grief and fierce despair
Can give us the strength to love and renew.

Notre-Dame will gloriously rise again,
But our tears will forever stain her stones.


Trevor John Karsavin Potter.
April 16th. - 17th. 2019.
I was so saddened to see the burning of Notre-Dame that I had to write something urgently, straight onto my Blog page without prior thought or note taking. I have rewritten this poem three times during the day, but now I consider it finished, well, at least it expresses what I was feeling and thinking. As a young boy visiting relatives in Paris, I used to attend services in the Cathedral.