When You Ask Me, “Why Paris?” by Michelle Ortega

In the poem “Undo This Doing”, where Ortega is reliving a moment with her daughter, she mentions, “… but this is her first time in Paris, our/ first time here together.” This intimate moment told through a photograph-in-verse illustrates the experience of this book which is the reliving of an author’s time in Paris: a land she falls in love with, growing as a mother growing with her daughter. And we too, are with Ortega for the first time: admiring her words, living in her wonder.

–Dimitri Reyes, author of Papi Pichón

In When You Ask Me, Why Paris? poet Michelle Ortega takes us on a journey through winding streets filled with cafés, cemeteries and sculptures. Places we return to in the present when we look ahead, past infinity, and then back to our past. A past that Ortega arranges beautifully on a charcuterie board and serves with a perfectly paired French wine. This is how I approached my first reading of When You Ask Me, Why Paris? The second time I read it on a moonless night. The taste was different. I walked away with a deeper understanding of Ortega’s small and mighty work. And now, with storm clouds gathering outside my window, I grab my copy of When You Ask Me, Why Paris? and wait for the sound of rain on the glass pane.

–Paul Rabinowitz, author of Grand Street, Revisited

“With an eye that sees beyond the obvious and a voice that calls to the deep, Michelle Ortega takes her readers to Paris and beyond. Her poems provide opportunities to connect with the self, our places, our memories, and our stories. What a gift to all who have a portion of Paris (or what this city represents) in our hearts and souls. I hope you appreciate this beautiful collection as much as I do.”

–Charlotte Donlon, spiritual director, gatherer, and author of The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other