Now
Quick as a key turn or July clouds
releasing downpours, I suddenly
loved you more as you admired
aloud the word maintenant – “now” –
mentioning its literal meaning:
holding a hand. Fifty years of French
and I had never picked that lock.
Now the present folds me
in its have and hold vow,
future pressed to past, palm
to warm palm. Every word my own
swollen cloud, shaped like a clock.
*
Julia Caroline Knowlton is a Professor of French and Creative Writing at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta. She has won two separate Georgia Author of the Year awards for her poetry. Her latest volume of poetry is a children’s book. She lives in Atlanta and Paris.
Omg…I love this poem, and this kind of revelation. It seems so obvious now. I will think of “now” in a whole new way. 5 years of French and about 3 years of Duolingo and I had never thought of breaking this word down. Thank you.