That was the Sistine Chapel, wedged between
our complex life and all that slept beneath
your kisses, and my curses, as we danced
love's simple dance beneath the midday moon.
Which might as well have been the midnight sun
the way you looked at me… (And I looked back!)
You could have walked along that look—(to share
what dream?)—as if it were a bridge across
some gentle stream—or else lust's raging torrents.
I loved that look you gave me! It went such
a long way back it reached to where I stretched
my feet, almost, yet did not dare to fare
the way I stared at you, just then, upon
that Bridge of Sighs, close to the Source of Being.
Featured in forthcoming New Lyre Magazine
John H.B. Martin is a poet who lives in London, England. He is a graduate of London University and Australia National University and has been writing for many decades. He has written four novels and is working on a fifth. His magnum opus is a six-volume epic poem. Most of his work is yet to be published.
Like John, I have never actually been to Venice. However, immediately before reading his transporting poem just now, I happened to have experienced La Serenissima via this painting:
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/market-square-of-amalfi-oswald-achenbach/9AFC_2GYuJXzhA
Thank you, John, for making my sojourn in the Venice of my dreams so satisfying, and praise too to the God of Coincidence!
That is so interesting. Thank you for replying to my comment.
Strong are life's bridges between soulmates. And body mates too.
This is a very fine poem, John. The internal rhymes and echoes really appealed to me. I had to read it aloud a number of times in order to experience their full effect. I was also particularly taken by the way you compared a lover's look to a bridge connecting two people, then linked that bridge to the Bridge of Sighs in the final verse, suggesting not only romance but the despairing fate of someone doomed to lose someone immeasurably precious. One cannot help but wonder whether the enchanting music of this poem has brought some past memory vividly back to life. Or were you in Venice recently with someone dear to you? I will definitely have to read it…