Wonderous Courtyard~ Missing Paris Day

I love finding these old cobblestone courtyards in Paris,

wondering how long the moss has been growing here

and just how many well-dressed footsteps have traversed over how many centuries.

They leave me wondering how many artists

 have endeavored their craft behind these walls and windows,

laboring and rejoicing over their work,

stirring the creative melting pot to see what words, what colors,

what stone features arise to the surface and beg to be let loose in the world.

Paris inspires creativity

though I find I can barely write while I'm there,

too many courtyards like this one calling,

too many sights, Parisian street sounds and smells working on my senses 

to do anything but absorb them. 

These courtyards leave me wondering

 about the gardener or concierge who tends to them,

watering new buds or plucking old, bruised and wilted flowers,

scrubbing walkways and polishing sills,

wishing their neighbors 'Bonjour' or 'Bonne Nuit'.

They also leave me wondering 

 how many ways a photo can be sweetly 

posed and framed into slightly new incarnations. 

A lovely new week to you!

And hoping your creativity can find some fresh, new colors 

through which to see it. 

(Photography copyright: Kirsten Steen)