As Soon As My Diabetic Leg BeginsTo Heal

As soon as my diabetic leg
Begins to heal
I plan to go
Running with the bulls
In Pamplona, Spain
As soon as my diabetic leg
Starts to get better
I want to go hiking
Once again
Along the Appalachian Trail
I want to run
And I want to jump and splash
Like a naked wildman
One more time
into the roiling blue flag surf
And monster waves
That break along the sea shore
At East Hampton
Main beach

As soon as the constant
Throbbing pain
In my leg
Gets better
I want to once again
Be able to climb
The flights of stairs
That leads to
La Basilique du Sacre-Coeur
Situee au sommet
De la butte Montmartre

I want to once again
Be able to amble through
The open farmer’s markets
Of the Rue Mouffetard
I want to go and sit
By the water fountain again
Dans le Jardin de Luxembourg
And watch the little
Children
Float their model sail boats
I want to be able
To once again
Pick up the fallen
Autumn leaves
In the
Bois de Boulogne

And if I may
I would like to
Once again be able
To casually walk
The entire length
Of the Champs-Elysées
To gawk at all
The rich tourists
Who are spending
Buckets of fric
And oodles of euros
In order to buy
Piles and bushels of
The most shoddily made
Souvenirs and trinkets
Of junk
Like fake designer
Watches and
Faux jewelry
All of which is
Made in China
And Japan
I want to walk
Along the river Seine
To peruse the book stalls
Of the bouquinists
As I admire the glorious
Ageless beauty
Of L’Eglise de Notre Dame
I want to sit and read
Le Figaro
And drink some espresso
In the street cafes
Of le Quartier Latin
Where I can leisurely
Watch the parade of
The long legged
Beautiful ladies
From every nation
As they sashay
Their stuff
Leaving behind a trail
Of perfumed air
Full of Chanel no. 5

As soon as my diabetic leg heals
I would like to perhaps
Take in
A show at the famous
Moulin Rouge
In the Place Pigalle
Or catch a hot jazz
Jam session
At one of the many
Boites and
Night Clubs
That dot the
Entire length
Of the Boulevard St. Germaine

Then I would like
To see some movies
In all of the fabulous
And shoddy movie houses
The dot every nook and
Every alleyway
Of the City of Light
And then I want
To visit every one
Of the exquisite
Art Museums
Of Paris
Where I would like
To spend hours every day
Staring at some of the
Most magnificent
Collections of art and paintings
That the world has ever seen
I want to return again to
The Basque country
To the warm beaches
Of Biarritz
To once again
Here the beach vendors
Hawking their treats
Of ice cream and
Ice cold soda drinks
And the hometown specialty
Beignet abricots!
Beignet abricots!
I would like to do
All of these things
Before I forget
That I had ever been there
Before I forget
That I had ever been anywhere
But I must wait
I must wait
For my leg to heal
No matter how long
It might take
No matter how long
It might take
Even if it takes me
An eternity
To heal

Jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2011