20 November 2019
By Philip Kuepper
I.
In profile, the row
of gondolas appeared
slices of bell pepper
set on the chopping
block of the canal.
II.
Gondolas littered
the sheet of the water,
like notes of music
waiting for a composer.
III.
Floated a 19th Century aria
through a Gothic window
on the 20th Century air
a gondolier’s voice picked up as it fell,
and carried it like a tune.
IV.
The gondolier’s weight played the ferro
like a mandolin,
the agility of his poling
in harmony with each wave
he made play to his strength.
(4 November 2019)