The ship turns away into the night ...

I walked across San Marco - it was my last night in Venice -

The cafe orchestras were playing their honeyed music - white jacketed waiters carried silver trays of aperol spritzers - gilt mirrors in Florians reflected young Americans - 

A spellbound crowd still filled the moonlit piazza - elegant flaneurs haunted the colonnades - 

I saw myself amongst the crowd - there I was, my eyes wide, only lightly dusted with sadness - 

I felt the years like a cloak of golden feathers upon my back - 

A vast cruise liner moved across the lagoon - each of its gorgeous decks was ablaze with light -

I watched it pass, turning away into the waiting night - 

Piazza San Marco

Venice

23.30

Friday 21 August 2015