© 1996 Poetry by Kiran Keswani - Glucksburg, Germany

After La Maison Roche
A walk to the Statue of Liberty.
And across from the bridge
Also the Eiffel Tower.
Streets, not so crowded this morning.
Cars racing past on the bridge.
The street corners from the bridge.
Looking back to where we came from.
Corner buildings, more than one
All different
In shades of beige and brown and red
In brick, in stone.
The glimpse of the river
Before we come to the bridge
Through a lane, through the buildings.
Is that the way to go?
Why not towards the river
And the open sky?
Up on the bridge
The back of the statue of Liberty
Replica of the one in America.
Tall, but maybe not as tall.
We are almost near its chest
And look down to see its feet
The stairs to go down
To its base.
Deserted, the plaza down there.
Over the bridge and then to the left
Into an avenue of trees.
And, sloping down
With the river on the left
An arch in stone over the avenue.
Bridge on the river, in iron?
Benches facing the river Seine
And also the other way.
Dustbins, so conspicuous here.
A quiet lunch on the bench
Before we walk on.
A lunch of french bread and herb cheese.
No tourists here.
The walk continues along the avenue
And through the arch.
Some steps
And then moving along to the right
Towards the Eiffel tower.