The Reflections of

Mademoiselle Rose Vitrine

Copyright © 2007 Mick Coyle

One could say I have lived a long and eventful life,

During which I have seen many a sight,

From many an era,

Seen children born and old men die,

Seen famine and wars,

The great morbidity of the Black Death,

The piety and persecution of Jeanne d’Arc

The Holocaust by the son of Alois.

So much grief have I endured,

Yet I have shed not a single tear,

I am deaf to the clapper of Emmanuel

And my only counsel the muted gargoyles,

I am denied the pleasure of joy;

and spared the feelings of sorrow.

I have also witnessed joyous times,

from my seat above the portal of the last judgement.

The pilgrims who flock in their hordes;

to pay homage to their Deity,

The sacred union of mere mortals,

The affusion of the new born

And the crowning of monarchy.

Although I was conceived in the year of our Lord

Eleven hundred and Sixty

By my paternal father Maurice de Sully,

It was not until the year

Twelve Fifty that I received my first sight.

My admirers are many,

Who look up to me with envious eyes,

But my friends are few,

The hideous monsieur Stryge

Who prefers to keep his own counsel,

And for a short time the Lady Liberty

Until the return of the beautiful Mater Dolorosa.

My abode has been the victim of numerous violations,

The rioting of the Huguenots,

The burning of the communards

And the desecration by Bonaparte

Who renamed my world “The Temple of Reason”

All this I have endured and more,

But my foundations in life were sound and my faith infinite.