some want to stay
some have to leave
some wait an hour to get in
some need to pee and
they wait for the can-can
some want the beef and the beaujolais
some want the jazz from the musicman
so kick up your feet, clap your hands
at Aux Trois Mailletz
feel Paris’s best
this is the
joie de vivre
it’s a small place with red and white
tablecloths and dim candlelight
bonjour, bonjour! madam, monsieur
the Gallic vibe is pure allure
I hum “La Vie En Rose”
dum dee dee dee dee dee dum dee dee dee dee da da dum…
three, no, make it— piano player à trois
take turns
entertaining regulars and, voilà—
people that want to be French
one plays “As Time Goes By”
I look at Natalie and nearly cry
we eat a cheese plate
drink a bottle of rouge
the players change
and so, our mood
every tune gets better
and I—
want to be French
a woman sits at the piano
and a Chinese lady stands
she sings “I Dreamed A Dream”
it’s like an angel dropped in
on Rue Galande
next she sings “La Bohème”
she warms our crowd
she warms us
the ovation is hot
we all sweat smiles, wet cheers—
happy in this moment caught
and released
I hum “La Vie En Rose”
dum dee dee dee dee dee dum dee dee dee dee da da dum…
how is he going to make it?
old Monsieur Viagra
with his two Russian call girls
young bleach blonde twins
who gobble up his beef platter
salad and his fruit
he listens to their chatter
and licks his wrinkled lips
how can he keep up?
how can he keep it up?
old Monsieur Viagra pays and the
ménage à trois
head downstairs
to the after hours jazz
I hum “La Vie En Rose”
dum dee dee dee dee dee dum dee dee dee dee da da dum…
some like it hot
some like it cool
some see it through the
rose-colored glasses
some are young at heart
some old, classique
Trois Mailletz is fantastique
its cups bubble with age-less joy—
tonight our young lips taste Parisian
this wine and jazz soufflé, well eaten
goes late, man
so kick up your feet, clap your hands
at Aux Trois Mailletz
the best comes yet
this is the
joie de vivre
troysherdahl 