La petite boutique

I know a place in a deserted neighborhood
A spot that pretends to be
Like some aristocratic town
I discovered another season there
Nestled between two houses
A tiny little shop
A beautiful black cat was sprawled
On the threshold when I walked in
He looked at me with his bright eyes
Then he seemed to think upon seeing me,
"Well! A customer…
What a sensational thing!"

This antique store
Sparked my curiosity
With its outdated appearance
A bell with a cracked sound
Started to jingle
In the calm and warm silence
Suddenly, out of nowhere
An old man with gentle eyes
Gave me a grand, quirky greeting
And I had the strange feeling
Of living in a very old moment
Far removed from our time

I was haggling over an old book
Whose leather binding
Held the scent of closed rooms
When I don’t quite know how
After a while, I found myself
Talking about something else
But the old man knew nothing
What a surprise it was for me
To realize that the guy
Clearly didn’t know anything
About the facts and events
That fascinated other men

He knew nothing of this time
Neither the important people
Nor the most famous affairs
And maybe that was it
That in this quiet little corner
Created this strange atmosphere
I bought the dusty book
And I left with a happy heart
The black cat, still impassive
With a little blink of his eyes
Seemed to say to me, mischievously:
"You didn’t think that was possible!…"

I walked away, and there you go
My story ends here
Because this tale has no
Conclusion or moral
But when I’m too affected
By the gossip that’s spread
By the disgusting scandals
By the revolting tactics
Of the political sharks
To better distance myself from them
I’ll spend an hour or two
In this little shop…