Mona Lisa Moments

It has been some months since I've posted a "Between Pages" blog entry, but much has happened in my world of words since my last post, including a 30th anniversary trip to Europe, publication of The Other Jesus, and a rash of essays and articles.  I've also enjoyed a business trip to New York, where I met with three publishers and a former literary agent (for drinks no less)--making my way through Greenwich Village, the Flatiron building, and midtown bearing gifts from Venice . . . and all the while feeling very much at home in the Big Apple, publishing capital of the world.  (Picture Ma and Pa Kettle in Manhattan and you have some idea of how my two worlds collide.)

One thing though:  my frustration runs deep.  

With dozens of books now in the hopper and in various stages of dress and undress, I set a blazing pace at the keyboard and may soon have to buy more floppy disks to keep up with the deadlines.  Sleep would be a welcome friend as well.

While in Europe, however, I did manage to keep my promise to Becky that I would not write a single word during this anniversary excursion.  I let go of writing completely, but since my return in August I note that I have had one new book released, have written four more book proposals, and have half a dozen others scheduled for release later this year.  I've also written nearly 80 published essays and some fifty poems.  

Among these verses--some of which I consider my best work to date--I've also reflected on some of the lighter moments of Europe . . . including our visit to the Louvre--a destination that has become nearly singularly defined by the mass pilgrimage to see a tiny Da Vinci portrait, otherwise known as the Mona Lisa.  But I personally found the mass-appeal laughable and just had to write about it.  If you've been there and witnessed the pull . . . you'll understand this bit of light verse.

Mona Lisa in the Louvre

We wait in line

            We do our time

                        By centimeters move

Humanity

            That’s come to see

                        The Mona Lisa in the Louvre

You feel the pinch

            As inch-by-inch

                        The line snakes in a groove

Dreaming awhile

            You smile her smile

                        Like Mona Lisa in the Louvre

Then at the last

            You hasten past

                        Great works of art and prove

That you don’t care

            What else is there

                        But Mona Lisa in the Louvre

One final push

            And then you rush

                        A chaos in commove

To glimpse in mass

            Da Vinci’s caste

                        His Mona Lisa in the Louvre

Yes there is art

            Back at the start

                        But none of them behoove

The hours of wait

            Right from the gate

                        As Mona Lisa in the Louvre