Chad Parenteau
Escaped to Paris
July 4th aftermath, in a hotel
I’ll never spell by myself,
expatriate from our patriots
still drunk from five Superbowls.
And the bombs chasing us off
were only holiday based, aimless.
I’m Steve Martin chanting
omelette au fromage to myself
until a waiter comes to my room
to force a cheese covered shoe on me.
I search for soufflé in lobby vendors,
breaking euros at the bar. Its serveur
speaks my language perfectly,
making me feel less at home.
What if my passport declares
that this is where I belong?
I rehearse my role as shell-shocked exile
who can’t recognize his own name spoken back.
Chad Parenteau is the author of Patron Emeritus (FootHills Publishing, 2013). His work has appeared in Tell-Tale Inklings, Queen Mob’s Tea House, The Skinny Poetry Journal, Ibbetson Street, and Wilderness House Literary Review. He serves as associate editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine. His second full-length collection, The Collapsed Bookshelf, is forthcoming.
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