In the Colosseum

We entered the Colosseum through the Gladiators Gate -

Our guide was called Daniel -

We kept close to him, threading our way through the murmuring crowd - 

Mighty columns supported a cruel circle of stone - 

We saw the labyrinth which had been hidden beneath the sand - 

Dark dens had voided wild beasts -

Sharp iron had pierced flesh and severed bone -

Those men, women, children killed here were beyond all counting - 

Despite the crowd, the laughter and the smartphones, I could feel their anguish - 

Even now, with so many names forgotten, they were still here, invisible, mute, amongst us - 

We followed Daniel to the high galleries -

I heard the echoes of hungry voices -

Above us the sky was a pale ancient blue -

 

The Colosseum, Rome

April 2025

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

Every morning

The house had arched windows and thick walls -

There was a courtyard like a deep well - 

Tangled greenery, a square of sky -

A spiral staircase led upwards from the hallway - 

Every morning, Sophie would open the door to the street with a delicate key - 

All would be silent - 

Wallace would kick his football past a drowsy waiter putting out chairs -

We would walk towards the river - 

Sophie and I would eat almond croissants in the Bar Meccanismo -

The Japanese waitress would bring us coffee - 

Wallace would ask for pancakes glorious with honey - 

The patron with his hooded eyes woud smile his patron's smile - 

Trastevere, Rome

April 2025

The promise of wonder

When I woke, Sophie and Wallace were still inside their dreams - 

I looked up at the high ceiling - 

It was the day after my birthday - 

I felt a gentle sadness - 

I had been born on a Good Friday -

I wondered how many more Good Fridays I would see -

How many more of Sophie's birthdays - 

How many more of Wallace's birthdays -

I closed my eyes to hear soft footsteps - 

Sophie opened the shutters -

She flung wide the arched windows -

I breathed the air of a city rich with names, steeped in longing - 

My gentle sadness stole away - 

Sunlight and the promise of wonder filled the room -

53 Vicolo dei Panieri, Trastevere, Rome

April 2025

Walking back to the Vicolo dei Panieri

Walking back to the Vicolo dei Panieri, rain fell on umbrellas and black cobbles - 

We threaded our way past the Bar Ayahuasca in the Vicolo del Cinque -

Voices and light spilled out of crowded osterias - 

Dizzying bottles gleamed in wine shops - 

We read strange graffiti on ancient walls - 

Trastevere, Rome

Apeil 2024

In the Piazza Trilusa

In the Piazza Trilusa we'd seen acrobats - 

Lithe young Africans, leaping upon each other's shoulders -

One of their company drumming - 

Flames pouring from a fire eater's mouth - 

We'd sat upon the steps of the fountain - 

The three of us, amongst the joyous youth - 

Trastevere, Rome

April 2025

On the Ponte Sisto

At three in the morning, I remembered Rome -

I'd walked with my darlings on the Ponte Sisto -

Crossing the river at night on a ribbon of stone - 

There were musicians - 

We heard their languid smoky jazz - 

Dark water flowed beneath us to Castel Sant'Angelo - 

Lamplight glimmered on the current - 

I wore my coat of years, woven from memory - 

Trastevere, Rome

April 2025