Eternal City

Pictures of Rome

still do it to me,

piazzas in Prati with fontanelle,

or Saint Peter’s dome,

obelisks patiently waiting

until Judgment Day,

or crowded train platforms near Piramide,

or peals of church bells, lonely and fading.

I might still be idling in Montemartini

or at Ponte Sisto, watching the moon rise.

I get lost in the image; I meet some surprise

too awful to pass over lightly.

So easier, in the end, to spin dreams out of air,

then to try to explain my experience there.

[I'm posting this earlier than usual because I'm about to leave town for a conference. Enjoy!]