~ RISE ‘N SHINE

Waking up early in Rome

Cries of defiance
Rise from the Aventine
In a sparrow’s glide
And break the blue sky
Echoing ripples of memory
Then falling swiftly from the air
The fragments of this fragile image
Ring on the choiring cables
And jangle gently in the wind
Like a quiet piano string
The waking blood
Now floods the apprehensive silence
Fearing the heart may quicken
And start to romp against the rib
Soft and insistent as a secret bell
Under a latinate cupola
Then life will have to begin.