Scribbly Gum

2. Love locks on the Pont des Arts,
Paris, 2014

They are here in hundreds of thousands—
padlocks with names inscribed or printed bold 
in light-fast ink. We imagine couples pledging
everlasting love as they click the lovelocks 
on the wire fencing of the bridge and throw the keys 
into the turbid waters of the Seine.

A notice, vandalised, informs that one in four 
French households suffers from domestic violence.
What effrontery to remind that love is fragile, ephemeral, 
a mere hair’s breadth away from hate and violence,
in this—well, almost—sacred place.

A winter’s day, light rain, the bridge almost deserted,
we await the love-struck couples who will brave 
the most inclement weather to pledge themselves, 
without appointment, to eternal love.
Meanwhile the love lock vendors brace themselves 
against the wind, like new age priests ready to dispense 
the sacraments, give blessings, smile at the ceremonial kiss.

(French Literary Review)

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