Normandie

I 

The highway sign reads, “Normandie”,
not far away, not near enough,
a landscape, or… a daughter’s name?
Saltspray-kissed lips, breeze-filled sails?

Normandie – silver screen comes alive:
a man and a woman in Deauville,
the umbrellas of Cherbourg,
a cruiser alight in the black of night.

II

C?te de Nacre
The modest lustre of your pearls
I want to touch and touch again.
Your neckless subtly intimates,
"I'm here for you, hold me close."

C?te Fleurie
Rose garden route, hand-in-hand.
Along stone hallways to my heart
long ago sculpted flowers bloom,
old carved petals take fresh color.

III

Normandie, your fruitful orchard
ripens the apple of my eye,
pours calvados to warm my breast,
Madame Poulard, Mont Saint-Michel.

Thinking of you, doors open wide,
farms, villages, flood-tides beckon.
Come with me, my Normandie.
We shall visit your name together.