a good morning in italy

I woke up to the bells of Santa Maria Maggiore,
the magnificent basilica around the corner,
but chose to stay in bed for a while,
resting my eyes and lying in the cool air
the morning had brought.

Our shuttered windows were flung wide open
[as they always are]
to let the breezes in.

I finally decided to get up
and go to the market
so that I could make a lovely breakfast
of eggs, toast and jam, and melon.
I listened to some tunes,
that made me want to smile,
and waited for Shawn's call to give the 'ok.'

But we're going to Calcata today,
with or without him,
to reconnect with some hippie love,
that sits on a fortressed plateau
outside of Rome.

[addition]
To Calcata we went! [sadly, without Shawn]

A tiny town on a hill,
Deserted when we arrived,
[it was siesta].

We walked to the bottom of the tree-covered valley
where the river bustled through
and where we dipped our feet in
to cool off.

And it felt like we went back in time...
to see the dinosaurs...

Hardly a tourist in sight.
Just an empty piazza,
and a church in the corner,
with a clock, whose hands stopped turning
long ago.