Assumption Day: Nice

                  Assumption Day : Nice


A glimpse of cobalt sea.
Everywhere, brown hands clutch plump mats for  the pebble beach.
I am not seduced. 


 I am walking to buy a pot of paint..the color of my eyes.


On the Day of Assumption, my name day, the sun has no cover.
A rivulet of sweat runs down my spine.
My yellow sandals suck the pavement like gecko feet.


I am walking to buy a pot of paint the color of my eyes.


A man pees against the wall. 
I turn away.....but not for his sake.
It is his birthright, his privilege.
"Men have been doing it for centuries" he would surely say.


I am walking to buy a pot of paint the color of my eyes.


A Muslim girl covered to the ground in thick black
sports a magenta head scarf. A fashion statement?  The scarf shimmers in the bright sun. 
I hope she is nude underneath.  


The day is ochre and dense, but I am bringing back a pot of paint as cool and light as the bluest sea.


  It is not in fact the color of my eyes.