The air thickens as we climb the long, spiraling staircase in the Abbesses metro station. After the first hundred-or-so steps, we sit on a concrete landing between art-covered walls. How deep we must be in the Parisian earth! How long until we’re at the surface?

I take a full breath as we emerge into daylight. But there are more steps on the hillside of Montmartre. Did we miss a warning for this? We should have learned more French.

Finally we arrive at the village summit. We find the Dalí Museum. A small plaza brimming with artisans offering portraits. An old cobblestone road under repair. And fragrant onion soup.

Sacré Coeur
the time it took
to reach you

Kat Lehmann

is a haiku poet, a potter, and a scientist based in Connecticut, USA. Her poetry has been nominated for Best of the Net and has been honored in The Haiku Foundation Touchstone Awards (individual poem), the Haiku Society of America Harold G. Henderson Haiku Award, and Japan’s Basho-an Award. She is a judge in the inaugural Trailblazer Contest. As a give-back to the larger community, Kat seeds free copies of her books in public spaces throughout the United States, and now in more than a dozen countries, as part of her Ripples of Kindness project. Her third book, Stumbling Toward Happiness, shares her notes of self-exploration.

Author’s website: https://songsofkat.com/