bonjour

i'm French, she says.
did I tell you that.
yes.
three times
in the last hour I tell her.
yawning.
staring at the ceiling.
I was born in france
and will die
in france, she says,
jutting her chin
out.
i'm dying now I say into my
napkin.
pardon? did you say something?
non.
I was just commenting on
the escargot
that is stuck in my throat
and trying to crawl back out.
the French know
wine,
know culture and art.
we live a different
life than you
cowboy americans.
we know how to love and live.
relax and enjoy ourselves.
you work work work
and want big cars, shiny things.
we don't care
about such things.
i'm French, she says again,
sipping her red wine, gargling
it in her mouth.
these grapes were picked too soon,
she says,
spitting out the wine
into her dish of pheasant bones
and quail egg shells.
I know wine, I am French, she says.
I nod, then see a waiter
walking by.
I yell out as loud as I can.
garcon....check. sil vous plait.