I fell off my bicycle
A few days ago
And injured my back
It will repair in time
But for the present
I am confined
To my apartment
In the 16th arrondissement
Fire is my biggest worry
As I find it painful to move
My sister Lou will arrive in a hour
To cook for me and provide company
She will stay the night
Before going to work
Lou is a perfumer and a poet
Whose beauty I greatly admire
Like me she was born in the south
And has raven hair and raven eyes
Lou reminds me of Shakespeare’s Dark Lady
The Lady of the Shadows
And calls me her petit poète
As I am very tall