I’m in love with her. I know, I’m too old for that.
This morning, she was wearing men’s underpants, as
though it was the obvious thing to do, as though
she’d always worn men’s underpants.
She deserves an Oscar just for way she breathes.
One day, I saw her taking off her jumper in the unlikeliest of locations;
it got stuck in her hair, giving me a peek of her trendy bra.
I think that was the day that I really fell for her.
My parents say that there's too much boldness
in this modern-day princess, that
a girl like that’s bound to be bad news,
that I'd be better off taking it down a notch, at my age. But damn. How
can I explain to them that with her big
cotton vest, she looks like an uninterrupted sequence
of perfect gestures? I’m meeting her tonight.
Yes, I’m heading out now. It’s the planets’ fault,
and her underwear’s. I’m opening up to the world.
- There’s just too much boldness
in this modern-day princess
Hello, world. My name is Nicolas Rey.
Hello, Nicolas Rey. Tonight, she'll be wearing
a body with a dinner jacket over the top and some heels.
I'll see her legs, with this quote
by François Truffaut on my mind : « Women’s legs are
compasses that circle the globe,
giving the world balance and harmony ».
At night, as we chat over a cup of coffee
smoking cigarettes, she reminisces about her childhood,
her love of earth and flowers and, with a moment of silence,
how she grieved for her parents. Got to keep going for them,
she says in a murmur. Impossible to keep going.
Got to keep going.
Finally, at dawn, clad in a pair of jeans and a nightie,
she cheekily suggests :
« Come on, let’s go for a swim ». Out we go.
She starts heading towards a fountain near my home.
She's standing thigh-deep in ice cold water.
Above this woman, an angel drenches its wild hair in water. I narrow my eyes. I smile. I watch her
doing her thing, thinking how hard it is not to fall in love with people when they do things like that.
Right then, she looks like something rare.
She looks like freedom.
- NICOLAS REY -