Travel With the Wind ©

Nat Hall
Sandwick, Shetland
2003

Cézanne, listen:
to find your home,
follow wind -
its northern mouth
cold purple lips;
from Normandie
it forged its path,
down River Rhône
it blew me south.
Mistral d'hiver, I learnt to go (1)
from place to place -
red Sirocco.
Le doux Zéphir,
maître enchanteur (2)
I heard your call -
your feline purr.
I asked the clock
for direction;
my wandering
out of winter.
A trunk or two
carried my dreams
packed in my books;
when north wind blows
on lavender -
Provencal light
or Simmer Dim,
southerly breeze
pushed me back home.
L'horloge me souffle
"réveille-toi". (3)

Notes:
1. Mistral d'hiver: winter Mistral. The famous wind - very cold in winter - that blows south to Provence and using River Rhône as a corridor.
2. Le doux Zéphir: sweet Zephyr / maître enchanteur: "my dear Merlin"
3. L'horloge me souffle "réveille-toi": the clock whispers "waky-waky".