"... Read sentences that weave a careful waltz of characters."

Escape the shudder at the edges,
cracks in the center, open a book, turn
pages, sink into words, imagination,
see pictures in the mind:

Move through Italy's hazy air and light,
view white hills, tangled gardens, towns
with walls of pink and yellow stucco,
rooms with cool floors, Venetian blinds,
hear a distant voice, a melody in the heat.
Ignore the buzz of flies.

Enter a church, pay the coin, see behind
the pane the time-blackened face of a saint,
his rich blanket of jewels. Register irony,
the smell of incense, or rows of candles
burning as if in a fog. Consider later
the happy genius behind the Virgin's
smile in a painting at Brera.

Be irritated at red-legged soldiers
at the border, who prepare to blast
a tunnel into a mountain's side; they smell
of explosives and sweat. Be troubled by the girl
on the steps of an Apennine hovel, who twists
her hair with blue-black hands, and stares
vacantly at you and your party.

Finally, enjoy the search for patterns
in a Persian rug or a conversation.
Read sentences that weave a careful waltz
of characters. Find a moment's peace
in the image of a middle-aged man
who stands at a Paris window watching
the crowded street and the human tick
of the great French clock.

Steve Harris

Steve Harris lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife and two children. His poetry has appeared in such journals as the Black River Review, Now & Then, and The Christian Century. He has also appeared in the online journals Melic Review, Octavo, and Perehelion. He has had two poems nominated for the Pushcart Awards, and is currently one of the featured poets online at The Alsop Review.