Friday, February 11, 2011

Le Madame du Café Montmartre


Tucked within a hidden alley
Just beyond the city square
Lies a rather fine establishment
To which no other can compare.

Some may find it fairly seedy;
However, the locals do all know
For cabernet and romance,
It is the only place to go.

The menu changes nightly
With the jazz a bit too loud;
Arriving after the dinner hour,
You'll likely miss the crowd.

For once the din subsides,
Lovers' whispers can be heard
Though the anticipation's felt
Without deciphering a word.

Overseeing each exchange
Is the proprietress we all know
As the highly regarded feline -
The Madame of Café Momo.

Immune to flattery of any sort,
She silently sips her wine
From a shadowed corner table
At which she later may dine.

On a perfectly blackened salmon
Or a well-seasoned florentine.
She'll rarely offer the time of day
Or acknowledge you've been seen.

Yet, let us make no mistake,
Not a moment does she miss
For her unblinking eyes
Catch each and every stolen kiss.

Greeting the dance of courtship
With her characteristic ennui,
She'll certainly bear her claws
If any disrespect comes to be.

Each one of her divas,
Though so eager to present,
In Madame's eyes remains naïve
Despite beauty heaven-sent.

All throughout the evening,
Her queens coif and they groom
While pondering which lucky tom
They'll invite back to their room.

Each must meet Madame's approval
Or back out to the street he'll go
For once the cabaret commences,
Nothing comes before the show.

Even Madame will perform tonight
As the first upon the stage
While the pianist's paws fumble
Through the music on the page.

Reassuring her accompaniment,
She saunters across the floor.
Yes, those remaining are here to stay
As she latches the front door.

The strings, at last, come in tune
As the houselights slowly fall;
And, Madame's moonlight croon
Never once turns to caterwaul.

See, Madame in her youth
Knew the fierce love of a tom;
But, it wasn't too much later,
She found herself a mom.

She knows first-hand the hardship
Of alone caring for young lives
For seldom do the toms return
To take their mistresses as wives.

The fate of Madame's little ones
Is, indeed, a sad story to tell
For the ferals of the city streets
Often know a living hell.

If you watch her face closely,
You may notice a tear, though rare.
This is not a show of weakness
But the offering of a prayer

That requests of the heavens
For her heart to one day mend
Though she knows many souls,
In innocence, will meet their end.

Thus, Madame has made it clear
As her own dues have been paid
That each queen in this cathouse
Makes it a priority to be spayed.

Though none of these lovely ladies
Hesitate to make her desires known,
Madame's ensured they'll never live
Through a heartbreak of their own. 


~ Kelly Bodeaux

... 2 of my loves... Montmartre and feline friends... Thank you Kelly, whoever you are.

5 in 60 seconds... Film

Here are 5 of my favourite films... in no particular order.... the first that came to mind in under a minute.

I decided not to ponder too long on this or else I WILL change my mind... so for whatever reason, when I think of the films I love-- these stood out.






I consider myself a bit of a film buff, not in a pretentious sort of way- just that I love the escapism, I love the story... and according to my (sub conscious) picks; brunette beauties (that includes you, Colin.)

I will try this again another time and see what I come up with... Expect also albums, books, musicians and more in a similar exercise in lfuture blog entries.

Single Mamas, I take my hat off to you...

What. A Week.



I knew it was going to be tough before it even began.

Grant was scheduled to be away for 2 weeks with work and I was far from looking forward to it all last weekend.

Not only would I miss him terribly, but it was going to be so hard being a 'single parent' for that time.

Unfortunately, this was not the first time Grant has been away since Avalon was born, he has been away twice before (each for 2 weeks) but this time I was just really not happy about it.

I have been more than forth coming with my honesty regarding Avalon and sleep, and 10 months on am feeling completely drained with each night of only a couple of hours interrupted sleep. My mood has been getting darker and have found that I am pulling away from the company of others-- I had needed help--- but I also just want to be left alone.

The day after Grant left, Avalon became sick; a runny nose then progressed into an infected eye, then two, and that culminated in a night of hell Wednesday. My poor little baby spent the entire night screaming as her eyes were stuck shut, with a blocked nose she could hardly breath from and on top of it all, was burning up. It was beyond upsetting to see her in such a state-- and I became scared as it had been only 3 months since I had seen her like this and that was the worst time of my life.

5am Thursday morning I took her to the emergency room at the local hospital; 4 hours later after seeing a nurse, doctor then paediatrician, we were sent home with the diagnosis: Viral Infection.

If she hadn't been so scarily unwell last November with Septicaemia I would not have been so 'panicky' but I was alone and the last time she went down hill so quickly, it was not worth the stalling.

On the plus side, Grant was sent home. Hopefully he won't have to return on Sunday to be away another week. I need all the help I can get at the moment (This very moment he is soothing Avalon back to sleep.) She is still not 100% but is on the mend. I hate when she is sick. It is awful, as it is for any parent-- you feel so helpless and would do anything to alleviate their pain.

There has been some great moments this week, tomorrow is Grant's 31st birthday so I have been getting his gift together. Avalon and I had a great time at Farnham Ceramics Cafe--That will be another blog after the big day. We did bits and bobs in Guildford and I wasn't having the best day emotionally, yet took a moment out-- had a cup of coffee and nursed my baby girl. I found that very calming. I know how strange that may sound as I feed her on demand. But because of they way I had been struggling, this particularly day will stay with me. We sat in the car, chilling out to Ben Harper and having a smiley feed.

Single Mothers.... Single Fathers... My hat is off to you. I honestly don't know how you do it.

I had a great laugh with my girlfriends today. It is rejuvenating to have a coffee and a giggle with Mamas that know (to some extent) how I feel.