'l'incroyable'

a worn jewel of a bistro set behind the palais royal,
lost in summary thoughts of darker days
when young men strutted about and posed
with the equanimity of today's runway models.
those who would have come and sat for meals
contrived by a vanquished patronne,
she of the rubied lips pout.
marooned in the heart of paris
after so many masquerade years,
she will dismantle the vainglorious namesake
of les incroyables,
and sublimate their commensal spirit
for the decorum of more placid revelations
in the circumspect province...

'l'incroyable' by g. verster, 2004
[INCROYABLE n. m. Sous le Directoire, jeune homme à la tenue vestimentaire recherchée et excentrique, et au langage affecté.]
(petit Larousse, 1982)