Bataille de boules de neige, Lyon 1897


the Lumieres cranked their cinématographe
&
trains came, babies babied, horses tricked

the washer-woman, the frowning boy
Berlin, Baku, Bucharest — 
everyone’s gone ‘neath death’s blanket

yet this December morning, 
grown-ups are pitching and donking 
it’s snow-melee ! Pity the hapless cyclist
& his immortal hat. 

Video: A wonderful restoration of the Lumiere brothers’ film c/- Joaquim Campa @JoaquimCampa. A quadrille (44 words) for Dverse where Merril is hosting and asks us to use ‘blanket’.

I could watch this all day. (If the video takes too long to load, you can find it here.)

And if that’s not enough, here’s Bang on a Can from 2016 with John Luther Adams’ piece In a Treeless Place, Only Snow. Just chill.
 

32 thoughts on “Bataille de boules de neige, Lyon 1897”

  1. My first thought was “Sometimes you feel like a nut,” part of an old jingle for candy bars Mounds and Almond Joy. The Southern Hemisphere is just going into summer, while we’re headed into the white mess. Such a joyous scene that none who partook in will ever forget.

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  3. Brilliantly penned details, Peter. I feel bad for the bicyclist, but it sure makes a good laugh. I couldn’t believe that they just started pelting him and when he left, it was like nothing happened. Hahaha.

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  7. Thank you so much, Peter, for the Lumière footage and a poem that took me back in time, but also reminded me of my own mortality with the line ‘everyone’s gone ‘neath death’s blanket’ I love the ‘hapless cyclist & his immortal hat’!

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  10. I had to read this several times as the rhythm and words wreaked havoc with my dyslexia. But I I finally read it in its entirety and understood. I often look at the old films and think of those that are long buried beneath that ssnow.

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  15. kaykuala
    grown-ups are pitching and donking
    it’s snow-melee !

    Seasons come and go but we gladly adjust to bask in the sun and snow as the case may be. Life becomes more interesting! Great poetic language, Pete!

    Hank

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  18. Wow, that video is so powerful when watched alongside your words: that moment is long gone and well buried under the blanket of death, yet it lives in the film, and in your words. Poignant and thought-provoking.

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  19. you brought the movie to life too – so vivacious the fun in your words. And it goes on and so does the blanket of death that covers us all eventually/ What a contrast!
    p.s. did you opt for snow now you are sweltering?

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