Wednesday 7 November 2012

Venice by day

We walked and walked
along canals, over bridges
under low passageways
and through narrow alleys.


It is easy to lose your bearings,
to find youself unexpectedly
at a dead end beside the water.


You follow people who seem to know
as they cut across empty squares
and disappear down alleyways


Unconsciously you find markers
for the way back,
a purple flower, an orange shirt,


chandelier drops in sunlight,
marble leaves that curl and twist,


gleaming almond tarts,
a lion staring from a verdigris door


and curvaceous cherubs
frolicking joyfully
in the bright November sun.

5 comments:

  1. I think I'd have followed the almond tarts too. Ooof!

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  2. I'm with dottycookie, those almond tarts would have been talking me back..........

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  3. Alice - you have such a way with words - Nigel and I visited Venice in the spring of 2004 and we loved the place - this post perfectly sums up the essence of the place, a place to saunter around and it never matters how lost you become - just magical, absolutely magical, thanks for reminding me of this - I would return at the drop of a hat

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  4. Sorry, you lost me a few streets back. I was drooling over the Almond Tarts. There seems to be a bit of a crowd forming actually....

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  5. What wonderful landmarks, filling all the senses, that orange shirt certainly dresses up the clothesline, and the cherubs certainly can't be anything but cheerful! But I'm with the others, those almond tarts look just . . . well, yummy! Hope you're having a lot of colorful adventures!

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