Snapshots of a Venetian Summer
Sailing in the Santa Lucia to Venice,
ornate pastel buildings blow by.
Our tour guide's thick accent
is a cacophony of love-sick gulls.
Amazing horses and frisky dogs
in reds, blues, jade greens are created
by the skillful glass blower
in St. Marks' Square.
We ogle the majestic Doges Palace
and dizzying Bell Tower,
meander across Rialto Bridge
and the Grand Canal,
drinking in their ancient past
before popping into a small
jewelry shop which beckons.
We glide by in a gondola,
serenaded by a robust troubadour
while a beaming, agile accordionist
renders manna for the gods.
The sun is more luminous
than ten million stars;
the light zephyr soothes our senses.
We're in paradise, heaven until
a child tosses a Coca Cola bottle
into the Grand Canal. Kaplunk!
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