Paris Is Going Down

Paris is going down
In a seething rush hour of new life
Strong young fronds are shooting out of gutters
And ripping tiles off roofs
While unshaven grinning squirrels
Revolutionaries down from the hills
In full combat gear
Shatter windows with brutal blasts
From sawn-off hazelnut shells





Once sleepy cats are snipers
Cutting off dozy commuters
At the ankle
With well-placed razor swipes


Heavily armoured turtles are rising up
From the city’s sewers
Squeezing toughened carapace through drain covers
Impenetrable, unstoppable
Relentless cruel plodders
Sweet the sleeping enemy
Off its feet
Onto a shifting, drifting sidewalk
Of undulating grey


High above unprotected heads
The aerial bombardment
From brave pigeons
Clad in uniform slate
Has been determined and vicious
Forcing the fools to dash for cover
From the burning stinking rain

And who could have predicted
An even deadlier foe
Deep in their midst
Dogged ground troops
Hiding in handbags
A new breed of canine mole
Biding his time
Leeching his unwitting host
Of time and resources
Stockpiling his deadly charge
Until his day came
Now proud pooches march
Tails held aloft
Laying slimy land mines
Communication nerve centres
Smeared and booby-trapped
With the dreaded brown peril
Unsuspecting city slickers
Slip-sliding away





Now a new Paris is rising
From the ruins of the old
Camargue ponies canter carefree
Across rotting 2CVs
Exotic birds of green, amber and red
Nestle in every blind traffic light
Salmon swim unhindered
Up a shimmering, see-through Seine
And the lambs gambol barefoot
In the fragrant Champs Elysées