A Roman Holiday

Look what you made me do, write a poem for you
I have not done this in a long time, for good reasons too
But spending time with you has created such a stir
That only the abruptness of a verse will do

Welcome! You greeted me with a tardy and unrepentant driver
And declared adamantly that punctuality in Italy is overrated
Besides how would the Yankees, Beer makers and sushi eaters know?
That for an eternal city like you, redundant is only the timer

At first, my eyes were blurred. The time seemed muddled.
I look at you, a part of you and wondered
How would my modern eyes that are trained for text
Would ever grasp the history you delivered?

A stage set for an eternal city

I began with the Colloseum, like it should always
A structure so magnificent in its size and splendor
And so precise in the division of social structure
Narrated stories of exotic animals and tragic human plays

Did the emperor sit here? And what of his thumb?
Did he pardon the bloodied one armed gladiator?
Or sealed his fate with a short gladus spear?
These were questions I asked your air, warm but strung.

There were many times, I felt as if you are still living
That the ghosts of roman citizens wandered still
In the ruins of the Roman forum, planning
Plotting of democracy and the absence of one true king

Foro Romano

Of course you prospered. And you plundered.
Kingdoms and countries near and far, with a famous Ceaser
But were you upset when you realized that the love for a woman
Was all it took to have him murdered?

And like most greatness, you too were floundered
You sank, as the Romans fought for one true leader
And now your ruins remain, lighted at night by modern lights
Unable to recreate the similar magic that once your lamps enabled

And I must not forget the Roman Gods, or their homes
One of them being the Pantheon with a dome so unique
That it stands with a hole and a magnificent floor
Reflecting stories of Egypt and the much needed 24 elephants

The Pantheon lets divinity through

Old Gods gave way to new ones. A land where once
The Christians were persecuted, a Vatican now stands
It is an overabundance of gold and structural wonder
Lies an independent country on a wholly religious stance

Religion becomes debatable when it seems like a financial venture
But who am I, in my smaller stature to question
What two thousand years have constructed
A land mass of faith and a temple like no other.

The Vatican

Everywhere I turn, I see your glorious past.
Living today with your superbly eccentric present…
The proud Romans today rumble on the pebbled stone roads
Sans chariots buts on two wheeled contraptions fast

Pasta with artichokes, Pizzas that thin crusts wore
Seven flavors of gelatos devoured
And if I had wanted, so would have wine followed
But I chose instead, your fountains of yore

It hasn’t been enough my time with you
But you ensured what I had to do
You made me feel, in only the ways living do
An experience more than must not’s and must do’s

I boiled in your clear blue skies and strong sun
I waited for time to be on time when your citizens slept
I ambled with thousands of obnoxious tourists true
And I wondered why Italy has you alone?

I tossed coins, Euros for wishes
In a fountain that I was supposed to
Hoping that I return, perhaps when it’s right
Or when I need to relive these addictive stage-frights