High Above the City
From our table in this seventh-floor rooftop restaurant,
You and I can see all of ancient and modern Rome
Spread out across an uncommon red-and-violet sky.
Setting Sol casts bold strokes, from its luminous pallet,
Over the entire City of Seven Hills,
As though it were Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
We hold hands, with the tranquillity of two angels
Floating in one of the master's "Creation" frescoes,
Hover within the peaceful sublimity of this endless moment,
Reveling in the ecstasy we feel slowly unfolding,
As the sun sets and, one after another,
Electric scintillations rise, throughout the blessed valley below.
In the distance, we witness St. Peter's becoming floodlit,
While high above its colossal dome,
Venus reaches apogee, aligns with God's cupola.
Closer in, the facade of Saints Ambrose and Charles Basilica
Illumines a tiny stretch of Via del Corso.
Nearer yet, we detect Trinità dei Monti's twin towers shimmering.
Both of us toast this precious efflorescence,
Say grace for the providence that's delivered us here,
Where every day's future coalesces with the ever-present past
And life never dies,
In the timeless stones, dust, bricks, and blocks of the Foro Romano,
Which still watch over all who pay homage to its heritage.
By midnight, we'll be fast in dreaming's compassionate keeping,
Envisioning this glorious tableau beneath us,
Feeling as though home is as near as the air we breathe.
08/09/10 - (2)
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