sparrows remain unseen though
their voices surround through the lemon
trees and the olive tops, the lollipop pines
bees on gardenias unminding of their songs
calling for the fall of this Italian night
a peregrine hovers in bay given headwind
eyeing for wall lizards cooling on stone
five centuries laid facing Capri in
the yawning shade of Vesuvius’ shadow
where I pause in this darkening between
on a raft of awareness hollowed
of chestnut secured with vines pulled
from time crawled scrawls dimming
black from green as orange burns red
of a sun drifting behind Isola d'Ischia's shoulder
downing cooling diffuses of wild aromatics
of fennel and or-e-gano overcoming citrus late
for harvest in family hands tending this land since
the time of pirates and kings desperate for reign
over a timelessness ever evading vain
attempts to own as I pretend the same
in a ship built of wanderlust and want
to be oceans away from borders and deadlines
dead in desire drowning creative flames so let
me be captured and given to this black
now bright in Napoli light slow
swelling across the slow bluing horizon promising
with these evanescent hours at least a place
to rest without thinking or need or want or greed
in this Italian night
1. Photos by author.
© Copyright William Hazel, 2024
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