Crossing the Piazza San Marco, I am focused on the BREAD I must buy. I dodge other shoppers along the twisting pathways, orienting myself by what CANAL is to my left, now my right. The acqua alta has not yet turned the city into a series of MOATS and lakes, THANK goodness. It will be a GIANT pain to do the simplest task then. As a new resident of the city, the anticipation of this annual event makes me question the wisdom of moving here, even as I rejoice daily in the beauty around me.

Georg’ann

It was not intended to FORGE a bond
When I met her desperation with tenderness
Gestures so simple
as picking up the phone
become as soothing as a mother’s hand gently stroking a child’s brow

In this way I leaned into loving a woman I didn’t like
she kept reaching for a woman she’d not kept in SIGHT

It’s not GIANT things from which we come into being
only tiny particles coming together

Heather