parisan holiday

on holiday
you pack a bag
and take a train
to the south of
france, where you
meet your long
time friends, pepe,
and louise.
you share a bottle
of wine with them,
overlooking
the rhone river,
some cheese too, and
a baquette.
pepe says things
about chagall that
you never knew,
but also
bad mouthing
van gogh in slight
demeaning ways.
this makes you want
to slap pepe,
but you don't.
he says that van
gogh had blurry eyes
and only painted
what he saw, pfft,
he says, any artist
can do that.
then louise says
look at the cow
over there, how
white she is with
bold black spots.
she gestures towards
the cow throwing
her hunk of cheese,
which makes pepe
shake his head
and get up to go
retrieve it,
when he does louise
leans towards you
kissing you on
the lips quickly.
when pepe returns,
he curses her in
french and says, i
know all your tricks
louise, i know
this cheese trick
that you do, which
makes her laugh loudly,
ha, she says.
you know nothing, pepe.