It was the eleventh month of the year
Paris in automn had overcome her fear
When standing up as one man
They shot everybody down

I don’t know where to begin
And whether we should explain
Or try to understand
What nobody can ever imagine

In the meantime let us indulge
In a silent meditation
That calmly invites us
To reject detestation

And let’s contemplate a society
Where together we would read
Books written by human beings
With no dogma or vanity

Today the sky is red white blue
Red like our eyes
White with fright
And sadly blue

Now if the night comes
Let’s go to sleep and wait
Until the next day to awake
In the transparent dawn

Marianne Braux