tableau vivant.
tu vives pour moi?
or are you like the paintings
you admire so desperately. still
ta peinture écaillée
ton cadre usé
i would hang you high, either way.
red curtains, gilded frame
se souvenir des jours joyeux
et des regards grandes d’admiration.

i think you know this.
i am not sure you care.
voir la vie dans mes yeux
et se sentir mes larmes sur tes joues
and yet i feel yours, keenly,
and see your careful posture for what it is
serres-moi prisonier dans tes paysages
apportes tes coloures à ma scène

allow me to join you, in your living picture
motionless muses, art intertwined
je rapproche le pinceau t’embrasser
je fais partie de ta voile.

NOTE: this poem is by two people! The English parts were all me, and the French was by my dear friend Kim. A version with English translations for the French portions can be found here.