ghosts of paris

The Champs-Elysees is filled with unhappy spirits. 
Of course the entire city of Paris is haunted:
At this very moment,
Jean-Paul Sartre is watching a tired American tourist
eat a sandwich at some restaurant in the Latin Quarter.

There was a time when Parisians would dress in their Sunday best,
stroll the grand boulevard,
and idle in its cafés.
They still do those things,
but now they have to share the Champs-Elysees 
with businesses like MacDonalds and the Disney store.

The ghost of Henry Miller
observes all these changes from a side street 
and imagines a more interesting, seedier Paris.
A woman feels his stare on the back of her neck;
she turns around quickly, but sees no one.
She then turns back around to finish her coffee,
which cost her approximately seven dollars in Canadian funds.