Maverick

Your voice whispers blandly my name, 

Drowning the noises of a world I do not understand,

Appeasing my fire, guarding my flame, 

Treasuring clandestinity that neither you or I had planned...

Affinity expelled prudence the moment we met,

Rarely in times, ones own life song can be a duet, 

I dove in your loving gaze, fearless, perhaps I knew, 

That in the unknown depths I would find me within you.

 

Ingeniously you strike my hair as if you would touch my skin,

In the palm of your sweet hands I learned where I begin.

Your luscious scent, once inhaled, is addictive as air, 

Paired with your voluptuous kisses words fail to compare.

Forgive my voice, it lacks my words, my whisper is due,

Let me elucidate, this poem is just for you.

Paris Je T'Aime

©Saman Giraud

Midnight in Paris

'All cowardice

comes from not loving

or

not loving well

- which is the same thing.'

Woody Allen

Love actually

While I am certainly not fond of routines once they start taking over spontaneity, I do enjoy the, what I call, 'children' of certain routines like Christmas because after all, I was not born or raised religious. Our family didn't sing any songs, nor did we pray or attend Christmas mass. And we certainly never reflected on Jesus. To make a long story short, to us, Christmas could have taken place on a random day like May 16th if at all.

Christmas was rather a yearly tradition that we adopted, celebrated solely as a peaceful gathering of family and close friends, because as it seems the majority of the people, especially families, need a date and a reason in order to overcome past peculiar quarrels and focus on the one thing that matters most: Love.

A religious holiday, even in a non religious family, is the best subconscious force of it all - my parents knew that and took blunt advantage of it: family and friends would dress up, hug each other intensely, kiss and laugh. Those who walked into our apartment would forgive and forget - all in the name of the holiday. Cicero was right: ' An unjust peace is better than a just war.'

On nights like that, we would enjoy a never ending homemade dinner whose smell would blend perfectly with the smell of the tree, the smell of sweet burning wood from the fireplace, the smell of the masses of fresh white snow that the winter breeze would try to squeeze in, and the smell of the people I love. Needless to say that until this day, this very smell is the exquisite perfume of a long lost joyous time.

Dinner was usually followed by the mandatory gift exchange where my poor parents seemed disadvantaged to me. My sister and I would get various gifts in different shapes and sizes, wrapped beautifully in colorful gift paper, with bows and ribbons from all the people who attended dinner, while my parents would nod and smile, be polite by the book and thankful for their health.

It was perfectly fine for me to gratify my dad every year with a new tie that I could afford with pocket-money that I received from him. At the end of his life he was the proud proprietor of an entire tie collection and I wondered if I should have asked him for a pocket-money raise back then in order to buy him a nice watch. I came to the sober conclusion that it would have made no sense at all . Looking back, I see how the entire 'pocket-money-gift' from kid to parent was nothing but an act of Love and the living proof that it is the thought that counts.

It was one of the best days of the year, considering the fact that it was not my birthday but actually the one of someone else I never knew. Plus if you think about it: when else is it nowadays socially acceptable to put an entire chopped down tree into your apartment?

Moving to New York City with no family and close friends by my side had many downsides apart from the one that I had no one that I could have forced to cheer up, celebrate and love for the sake of Christmas - let alone the gift exchange.

Years later I might be physically not surrounded by my family, but thanks to modern technology, we force gather online and have a blast. I am delighted to spend my Christmases with wonderful, loving friends. We might not cook the 5 course dinner, but then again, we live in New York where time and space are limited, where gluten-free meatballs and fondue accompanied by many nice glasses of wine and 'all i want for christmas' on Pandora, followed by ice cream and 'Love actually' are synonym for a 5 course family dinner in Europe.

And when I arrived at my friend's apartment in lovely Stuyvesant Town, straight from the hospital with no makeup on and in my PJs from the morning, the most festive attire about me were my new winter boots and a bottle of wine. When I was welcomed at the entrance door with warm hugs and kisses by Jillian and Lidia, it was Love actually. Clearly it really is the thought that counts.

Kissing In The City

There are certain truths is life that are intangible. Kissing is one of those truths. It is a truly wonderful thing to do and anyone who ever kissed, knows that. Besides being healthy, it has stress-reducing effects, it was and always will be a form of affection. Romantic kissing reflects being into each other - literally.

While many people worldwide consider Paris to be the city of love, no one can really tell why. Paris symbolizes passion and romance - another intangible truth.

You will find bright lights, romantic restaurants, lovely rivers and culture in many other cities too. The difference is that two lovers in Paris will show their affection no matter where they are, no matter what the weather is like or what other people might think about it. And they will show it very clearly.

According to Wikipedia, public display of affection is very common in 'developed countries' like the US. I could not agree less. Coming from Europe, I was shocked to see the lack of showing affection in public. French kissing being the least of the problems.

In New York City, kissing in public and showing that you are into each other is considered by many people as rude, intrusive or even disgusting. And yes, in some restaurants or public spaces you will be asked to stop showing your affection for each other by some sort of authority in order to protect others. From what, will remain a mystery. Simultaneously, New Yorkers absorb any form of affection like a dry sponge longing for water.

The Big Apple is ruled by Apple which according to Digitimes, secured 60% of the 'global touch screen capacity' with 50% of the iPhones and iTouches being used in the US. This leads to the conclusion that touching is very popular in the US - at least when it comes to technical devices.

In a country where people love to iTouch everything, from their iPhones to their iPods, going all the way to stoves and even microwaves, I wonder if the classical screen replaced the classical skin?

According to the Durex Sexual Wellbeing Survey, out of 26 countries, the US has one of the Top 3 lowest weekly sexual activities with 53% of the participants in the survey having weekly sex, the same amount as Nigeria by the way. The only country where people have less weekly sex than the US and Nigeria, is Japan with mortifying 34%. Weekly sex in France is common for 70% of the participants.

In New York City where the stress level of the regular person is probably as high as the Empire State Building, one should maybe consider excessive kissing instead of excessive workout in the gym. Not only is it for free, but it is also effortless and far from being exhausting. Furthermore I never met a single person in my life who suffered from muscle soreness as a result of kissing, but I can say that anyone I know suffered from it as a result of workout.

At the ends of our lives, no one will look back and regret having not touched enough screens, but rather having not touched enough lovely people. Devices just like money, leave no marks, only dirty fingers. But human affection can shake us to the core.

When it comes to excitement, I'd rather have my lips vibrating from a beautiful kiss, than a phone vibrating in my pocket.