Au milieu de la vie
On s’est trouvé en Messidor,
toujours en pleine jeunesse;
on s’épousé sous chutes d’or
avec une folle tendresse;
on a franchi brouillard, chaleur,
tempête et sécheresse.
On est toujours en Fervidor,
en pleine abondance,
comme s’il y avait de l’avenir,
toujours rempli de chances…
On entrera le Fructidor
toujours en pleine danse!
Christina Egan © 2013
This poem uses the terms of the French Revolutionary Calendar, which were created by a poet; the names of the summer months evoke heat and harvest.
The couple have met in the midsummer of their lives, got married a little later, and are now going through late summer — still dancing!
Not only according to numbers are they “in the middle of life”: they are in the midst of things, and they live more intensely than in their youth.
Photograph: Christina Egan © 2017.
Christina Egan 