Stanford en
France XIII, a mon plaisir rarely before seen
On the river
in the heart of Vouvray--patisseries to be weaned
NAT0 was out
of France beginning to leave
Hamburgers
and cokes at Chinon our taste buds no longer to relieve
80 bright
eyed bushy tailed students from the Farm
Some fluent
and some with meager skills to raise the language alarm
Descended on
a hotel on the river in le Jardin de la France
To give
their various French skills a meager chance
Four days of
class deadened by the Confidence Man
Then three
days to explore this amazing land
An Econ
professor wading through the medieval fields of war torn France
An English professor
whom we would not allow a soccer playing chance
The French
rugby players after Kelley Ford taught us the game
Quickly learned
triskaidekaphobia was a fear they could not tame
Son et
lumiere
Music
floating into the chateau air
Trips to
Madrid, trips to Florence and Rome
Bitten by
the European bug it is a wonder we made it home
All of us
will have moments of our time in France to reflect
Images and
lessons we today probably still dissect
This poet
remembers the lasting chill
When a
fellow student Gary Fleener meningitis chose to kill
And when in
Madrid one of us Roger Fink
Was whisked
away back to Palo Alto due to a decadent link
Raising
money for the children with a Sangria bash
Too much
celebration; too soon many of us would crash
In an era of
global warming we frolicked a Tours in the snow
Chevaliers de
la table ronde as a lasting glow
Friendships
made, made to last and to endure
78 united on
a river; great memories to insure
All of us
are graying and we look over our shoulder to see the first flakes of snow
But none of
us will ever forget the France XIII Winds of Freedom Blow
So young, so
lucky to an experience beyond our dreams explore
Why a
reunion of a very select group our youth refreshes and restores.
© October 23, 2014 Michael P. Ridley
aka the Alaskanpoet
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