At the Farnese Gardens

In the Farnese gardens there was birdsong - 

Sunlight fell on mannered greenery - 

There were cypress trees, paths trod by exquisite ghosts -

Water fell into a fountain - 

I looked out from a terrace across the city - 

I saw its churches, palaces, towers - 

Its broken columns, arches white as bone - 

The long memory of its ancient heart - 

Farnese Gardens, Rome

April 2025