Archive
08/13/10
From the Bauer Il Palazzo's Balcony
As we stand gazing, five stories high, Opposite the prow of the wedge-shaped peninsula Forming Venice's old Dogana di Mare (Where, once, each vessel had to ask permission to pass, Pay a tax, before entering the Canal Grande), We possess an expansive, exhilarating panorama Encompassing the isles of San Giorgio Maggiore and Giudecca, The double domes and campaniles of Santa Maria della Salute, And a quarter-mile stretch of Moorish Gothic palazzi Lining the banks of the constantly stirred water Filling our eyes with the dizzying, crisscrossing trajectories Of vaporetti veering to and from the San Marco dock, Gondolas loaded with romance-seeking visitors, Water taxis, hotel launches, commercial craft... Indeed, up here, as twenty-first-century doges, We grant the city permission to conduct its myriad business, While we attend to more immediate matters: Embracing, kissing, firing our quickening desires.
08/13/10
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