Taken from a dream

It was still light when we landed -

The wings of the jet were pale wands -

The first stars glimmered above the terminal -

In the long snaky queues to the passport control I heard a boy say va bene -

We waited for the courtly ufficiale -

Sophie smiled her beautiful forgiving smile -

In the taxi, I sat behind the driver -

I closed my eyes, remembering clouds - 

It grew dark when we were on the autostrada -

We drove towards the city - 

Over the carriageway there were illuminated signs -

Ostia, Fuimicino, Roma -

Each wonderful name taken from a dream -

Approaching Rome

April 2025

Wallace would always take my Queen

Wallace and I played chess in the white jet -

Whilst Wallace took my Queen we were flying over mountains -

Later we played in the house with arched windows - 

His dangerous Knight leapt over my stolid pawns - 

Each morning we played this noble game -

I would sip the espresso Wallace made for me - 

Sophie would butter a ciriola -

We would set out the pieces -

Wallace would always take my Queen - 

Travestere 

Rome 

April 2025

Every night we ate pasta

Every night we ate pasta in a louche osteria - 

Sophie and I would drink aperol spritzers -

The louche darkness would fill the mazy alleys -

Beautiful ragged girls would wear skirts made of cobwebs -

Their lean tattooed boys would lounge on church steps -

Wallace would talk football with the ragazzo of a waiter -

Inside the osteria I'd see the doomed lobsters in their tank -

Jazzmen would play in the piazza -

Sophie and Wallace would play cards -

A pale moon would glimmer in the Trastevere sky -

Trastevere 

Rome

April 2025