Emerson College

Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien: Edith Piaf in Concert

Author(s): Mark Kraushaar
Source: Ploughshares, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Spring, 2009), p. 105
Published by: Ploughshares
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40355088
Accessed: 16-03-2016 13:22 UTC

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 MARK KRAUSHAAR

Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien: Edith Piafin Concert

www.youtube.com

So, here's Edith Piaf, widow and orphan,

fists clenched and tipped forward
for emphasis: No, she sings,
I regret nothing, not the good,
not the bad.
And you want to believe it too,
you're trying to believe it, and you
who should have married or moved sing along.
You who could have done more sing along.
You who should have done less,
you with the snazzy bow tie, you
in the aisle seat closest the exit, sing along.
You who should have kept still, you who should
have spoken, you say it too, and you in the blue
shoes, and you in the yellow dress:
No, I regret nothing.
Or think of the eighth grade world wall map
with the different colored countries and the great
green sea - behind it, against the blackboard there
had to be some alternate, opposite map,
one showing the world where whatever
went wrong turned out fine in the end.
But you sir, and you mister,
think how the heart, atop its substrata
of explication and excuse wants one more chance,
and you ticking softly away in the sad room
over the feed grain store, and you, and you,
the lady now standing,
the one just starting to clap, and you mister
and you, the one now bringing one hand
to your mouth - think of it, say it, sing it,
sing it again.

105

This content downloaded from 170.140.26.180 on Wed, 16 Mar 2016 13:22:16 UTC
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