for françoise hardy
at the seine’s edge
of notre dame
seeks t’ grab my foot
sorbonne students
whirl by on thin bikes
swirlin’ lifelike colors of leather spin
the breeze yawns food
far from bellies
of erhard meetin’ johnson
piles of lovers
fishing
kissing
lay themselves on their books. boats.
old men
clothes in curly mustaches
float on the benches
blankets of tourists
in bright red nylon shirts
with straw hats of ambassadors
~Bob Dylan
I’m not saying that Dylan stole the notion from me, only that I was on the case first. As a schoolboy I had a whopping crush on Françoise Hardy, so much so that I translated all her lyrics into English (quite an effort for me) which I sent to her with a letter asking if I could set up her fan club in England. Her failure to reply pierced my heart, although looking back it would have been much more remarkable if she had replied. Dylan’s tactic of writing her a poem on the back of one of his albums was more effective. This video, in which she talks about her encounter with Dylan shows that she’s just as beautiful now, to me at least. There’s one of her songs on the soundtrack of my August in the Garden slideshow.
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