Mrs. Bonnet
Mrs. Bonnet
along the Left Bank
whose husband Pierre
still missing in action
was my French tutor
and piano teacher
whom in a scrupulous
other life of politics
and theater
here in Paris
transfers me
to his young wife
once gave an adolescent
meaning for discipline,
upon playing Debussy
and the etudes of Chopin
in my first recital
yet not ever expecting
a French kiss
after the applause
when we running away
by the Seine
wrapped tightly
in a sailcloth boat
when I had very little
knowledge of the world.