Venice Morning by Bill Melton

Ah, Venice,
Your towering ancient walls,
Fortresses to hold in the past
And stave off the modern.
The sights, smells and tastes
Assail the senses.
Unchanged for these centuries.
Stately gondolas
Still plow your waterways
Which rise and fall with the tide,
Whose prows rise haughtily in silence
Aloof to those whose engines roar.
Amid the clamor of countless tongues,
Venetian people
Share the streets with all,
But retreat behind walls
As ancient as the stone hewn streets,
Pull massive old shutters closed
To blot out the modern world.
Shopkeepers
For their ancient livelihood
Open the same doors and stalls
That has opened for centuries
And show the world beautiful wares of
Gold, crystal and lace,
Still lovingly formed
By craftsmen’s hand
Instead of machine.
Their windows sparkle
Bidding you to enter, see and buy.
Narrow streets
Huddle between the walls
Hardly room for two to meet
And pass.
They grudgingly give passage
To those who know the maze,
The secret of where they go,
A trap for the unwary
Who carelessly wander into their labyrinth
Ah, Grand Canal,
Mother of all the others,
She feeds them with her source,
Clothed in aqua
But bejeweled by the sunlight
That plays upon her ripples
As clean as the morning shower
With the salt smell that tantalizes
The lungs and nose,
Adding to the appetite
That seems insatiable;
Teased by the smell of fresh baked bread
Or fish in open stalls
And a thousand other aromas that waft
In the cool fresh air.
San Marco Square,
Whose buildings are arms
That open to the sea,
Welcoming the traders of the world
Unchanged since the era
When wooden ships came plowing in,
Dropping their sails in salute
To this grand city.
A thousand pigeons
Flit from here to there,
Their iridescent feathers flash
As they glide just above
The heads of visitors.
On side streets,
Silent sometimes for a moment,
There is peace and solitude.
As in the distance
Bells peal momentarily
And then die.
Or the voices of someone,
Who perhaps, in a moment of happiness,
Sings a verse from some unknown song,
Its meaning clear
In a foreign language.
You have caught my imagination
Far exceeding my grandest expectations
Of what you would be.
And I madly grasp at the memory
Of the sliver moon at midnight
Peering into countless open squares
To the morning sunlight
Bathing the city in golden light
And everything between.
I burn you in my mind
So, at future times
I can retrieve you
And again savor your
Flavors.