He met her in a French cafe

She slipped in sideways like a cat

Sidelong glances

What a wary little stray!

She sticks in his mind like that

Saying, "Avez-vous un allumette?"

With her lips wrapped around a cigarette

Yvette in English saying,

"Please have this

Little bit of instant bliss."



He's fumbling with her foreign tongue;

Reaching for words and drawing blanks

A loud mouth is stricken deaf and dumb

In a bistro on the left bank

"If I were a painter," Picasso said,

"I'd paint this girl from toe to head!"

Yvette in English saying,

"Please have this

Little bit of instant bliss."



Burgundy nocturne tips and spills

They trot along nicely in the spreading stain

New chills, new thrills

For the old uphill battle

How did he wind up here again?

Walking and talking

Touched and scared

Uninsulated wires left bare

Yvette in English going,

"Please have this

Little bit of instant bliss."



What blew her like a leaf his way?

(Up in the air and down to Earth)

First she flusters

Then she frays

So quick to question her own worth

Her cigarette burns her fingertips

As it falls like fireworks she curses it

Then sweetly in English she says,

"Please have this,

Little bit of instant bliss."



He sees her turn and walk away

Skittering like a cat on stone--

Her high heels clicking--

What a wary little stray!

She leaves him by the Seine alone

With the black water and the amber lights

And the bony bridge between left and right

Yvette in English saying,

"Please have this

Little bit of instant bliss."