RUINS

RUINS

I pause to rest beside the Temple of
Antoninus and Faustina. Stone
and sunlight, mingled with the leaden drone
of tour guides, the oppressive push-and-shove
of camera-wielding pilgrims, makes me search
for sanctuary; and an olive tree —
September 12, 2001 A.D. —
provides the hushed asylum of a church.

This peaceful corner that the tour left out
might tempt another traveler, by and by,
to view the Forum with a quiet eye
and think it something to write home about;
as I am doing now, except I scrawl
Wish I were there on postcards that portray
an artist's sketch of Rome before the fall,
its columns shining in the brilliant day.



( © Catherine Chandler. Originally published in Lines of Flight, Able Muse Press, 2011)