crossing
via dei condotti
that final attempt
at February sun
cuts
a concise opening
into the middle
of the Spanish Steps
and while some Japanese girls
lost in their photos
become even paler and
get lost in the shadows,
a stripe of uncertainty
sucks
at the ancient message
of light,
unconscious
on the steps
of a myth,
which
like a broken ship
has them floating
towards Styx,
warbling loudly,…
beauty they say
is just the beginning
of the terrible…
…the patina
of knowledge, however,
rewards me
with a
quiet respect
when
in the
Via della Croce
time and eternity
cross
at a
desolate fountain