venice sighs

1. the sleep of 40 years
no longer at my window
summers’ mornings burst
new and unfettered
the laughter of children
sweet and echoing

2. once I drank steaming tea from small cups
baked in sunlight
and dreamed of You
the full knowledge of love
and mercy

3. rains of righteous cleansing
drown and flood the streets
we swirl and sputter
stilted
our hopes unmet
and darkness
covering

4. my time here not yet over
i turn the corner
search for other paths
waters rushing
in silent torrents
furious as tears
down my face

© Sarah E. Hedges, 2001