Poetry I Wrote in College With Apologies to My Parents for Wasting Their Money
While my latest memoir deals with being in Paris during Charlie Hebdo, I found this poem I wrote during the 1968 May Revolution in Paris that I also witnessed:

I walked forty-five minutes to the bank.
“Nothing from outside France. I’m sorry Mademoiselle”
and I walked forty-five minutes back.
I bought ten potatoes, a box of rice, and a round loaf of bread.
“Any mail, Madame?” The concierge shook her head no and I began climbing the four flights of stairs.
“I’d like to call the United States please.”
“I’m sorry but no lines out of France.”
I ate my potatoes and watched from the windows as explosions from the Quartier Latin lit up even the furthermost sections of Montmartre.
And then I turned on the radio.
“Heavy bombardments in the Quartier again tonight. Police have students surrounded in front of the Sorbonne, closed for the first time in 700 years. The students are tearing the cobblestones from the streets and stacking…
Click.
In a minute I was down the stairs.


