THE INNER CRITIC ON HOLIDAY
You will get lost in Paris
it is not your fault
it was planned that way
You may find it unforgivably gauche
not to know the left bank from the right
Let it go
It is not necessary
to criticize oneself here
they have waiters for that purpose
And looking out, not in
you may stumble Americanly
upon Marie’s little side street shop
with bread as new as the cheese is old
and a three dollar wine to bridge them
or catch a brief glimpse
of that seriously happy young man
pedaling down the very center
of the Champs d’Elysee
one foot and a base fiddle
resting on his skateboard