Niçoise Thoughts
There is a bitter-sweetness to Nice. I have been inexorably attracted and drawn to it, or maybe better yet, into it. Nice, je t'aime. But it does not exist in a vacuum all its own. And I can only see it in its beautiful yet dappled light.
The celebration that is Cannes, the opulence and wealth that is Monaco, the beauty of la Promenade des Anglais and Côte D'Azur of Nice, and the hub of artistry that is l'atelier de Cezanne of Aix-en-Provence. Breathtaking, awe-inspiring, gems in our world's crown, all.
But if the eye lingers upon a single spot too long, the image wavers and shimmers like a desert mirage. To bring one's attention to the cracks in the artwork is to see the truth ooze out and cease to remain hidden and conveniently tucked away; the façade of a Potemkin village emerges: There cannot be wealth without poverty. They are intrinsically interwoven. The best they can be are hidden.
And like a grill, a screen, a filter that traps the human refuse, where dark-faced strangers' gauging gaze fall upon you, determining your value by your presumed wealth or level of threat.
The rich monopolize the poor and the destitute prey upon the rich, and the grease trap that is Marseille is a celebration of this debauchery.
Like the halls of my apartment, with its layers of paint in its foyer lingering with the subtle stench of secret ages, hidden and buried. Nothing cleaned nor repaired, only whitewashed over, ad infinitum.
Monaco, Cannes, Nice, Aix-en-Provence; they are the layers upon layers of paint repeatedly stratified overtop its decrepit and calcified truth. Marseille.
It causes one to pause and ponder: where do I fit within the consumers, the consumed, and the consumption? The parasites, the prey, and the predators? And what paintings have we produced to hide these truths from ourselves?
Michel Weatherall
Author, Poet, Publisher, Printer, Imagination-weaver.
A native of Ottawa, Michel Weatherall grew up as an army-brat living in Europe and Germany and has since travelled extensively.
Having over 30 years experience in the print/publishing industry, the transition to self-publishing was a natural step with his publication company, Broken Keys Publishing. He has published 6 novels and 2 collections of poetry.
Other work (the poems “Sun & Moon” and “Eleven's Silent Promise” and the sci-fi short story “Rupture”) have appeared in Ariel Chart's online journey as well as a theological essay (“The Voice of Sophia”) in American theologian Thomas Jay Oord's "The Uncontrolling Love of God: An Open and Relational Account of Providence" (2015)
Weatherall's current books in print are,
The Symbiot 30th Anniversary, The Nadia Edition
Necropolis
The Refuse Chronicles
Ngaro's Sojourney
A Dark Corner of My Soul (poetry)
Sun & Moon (poetry)
Future titles currently being worked on include
Invasion: Scion (sequel to Ngaro's Sojourney)
Symphonies of Horror: Inspirational Tales of H.P, Lovecraft: The Symbiot Appendum
Thin Places: An Anthology
Honours and Awards include
Winner of the 2020 Faces of Ottawa Awards Favourite Author
Winner of the 2020 Faces of Ottawa Awards Favourite Publisher (Broken Keys Publishing)
2020-21 Parliamentary Poet Laureate Standing Nominee
2019 Pushcart Prize Standing Nominee (Poetry)
2019 FEBE Awards Nominee for Creative Arts
2019 CPACT Awards Nominee for Entertainment Excellence (Arts)
2019 CPCAT Awards Nominee for Small Business Excellence (Broken Keys Publishing)
2018-19 Faces if Ottawa Awards Finalist for Favourite Author
He currently lives with his wife and two children in Ottawa.