Embrace. Spring is here, Paris. It's hardly April
and I haven't seen you for almost three weeks
now. But the ducks and the Egyptian geese have
been coming to rest on my pier at night, and
the recent agony has completely been erased from
my nights. Almost all my nights. And as the new
season has started on the Thames, so has the
new games. joyful ones, and the new gaze as hopeful
as them. Oh, Paris, amidst all this chaos in
the world, do lovers have a chance but for their
own requiem? The sun still arrives with crispy,
rarely still air. My chest is less constricted,
my breathing slow and effortlessly controlled.
The heart is engorged. My smile arises from the
engorgement as my mind touches everything that
feels warm. That feels fresh. That feels budding.
In a couple of days, Paris, our body will entwine
once again, allowing my soul to expand yet again.
In a couple of days, all the songs you've blessed
me with will find their new meaning as I walk
your grounds with newly inhaled joy and contentment.
Romance is possible once again. If only for a
season. If only for an era. If only for the nights
that put to rest the air of sadness and closes
the gap between my body and my ideas of freedom.
Like our inevitable occasional separation, Paris,
our constant entanglement opens for me new paths,
new windows for my mind to gaze through and
new doors for my heart to walk through. Oh, how
bloody exhilarating! My nonchalantly rebellious
daughter slash bestie is coming with me on free
return Eurostar voucher -- perks of being in star
level -- and stay with us for just under a week
and this alone brings extra joy to my reaching
for your embrace. There will be an art exhibition
opening to prepare and get involved in and there
will possibly be an artist interview to film.
There will be suppers among friends and cafe
rendezvous in between. There will be conversations
my senses are ready to indulge in immoderately
and perhaps a picnic not far from Pont Neuf. There
will be a new layout and a book cover by my designer
to discuss. If I'm really lucky, there will also
be walking along your river Seine, solemnly,
undividedly, perhaps even on my own, consuming
your embrace. Almost greedily. Almost greedily,
Paris, I am consuming everything that is beautiful
and temporary this morning has to offer for me.
Everything that is music, everything that is
light, everything that is warm, everything that
is carnal, and in the process, I feel your embrace
embodied. Who knew love isn't in anything eternal!
Who knew that as the objects come and pass, love
travels so that it has a chance to evolve! I'm
embracing my evolving love, Paris, for you and
for everything and everyone that come between
us, in spite of us. I'm infusing everything that
belongs within me back from my surroundings,
from everything that touches my skin, from every
scent that comes about my way, from every view
that encounters my eyes, from every sound that
enters my ears. I am with love; therefore, I
am myself. Time to let the guards down, Paris.
It's time to open all the locks and let the river
flows freely along with every boat that has managed
to take their place in the middle. At least for
a while. Amidst the chaos beyond the television
we no longer own, let my thinking halt. If only
for a moment. If only for a gleaming spot. In
the distance between the carnal and the eternal,
Let me possess your embrace. londres, le 29 mars 2026. je t'embrasse !