Running by Séamas Patrick Patten

Running

shirtless over cobblestones, bricks, asphalt
past nuns sipping lemonade
beyond a smiling blonde spinning sugar into tea
through workmen and their scrabble of sand
around a double-parked Ledra lorry
behind a sweaty cop and the streetwalkers he chats up
beside the cathedral under repair
up sun-blanched steps of the archeological museum
among the Canoned and Nikoned
along a treble-arched marble colonnade
down a steep concrete landing crusted in moss
onto a stone bridge
alongside chiral twins on a motorbike
across gravel into grassy parks
by Euterpe’s fountain
between the man reading Agatha Christie and a bronze reading the man
beneath window washers catcalling
beside the taxi stand and bell captain
past a waiter, towel over shoulder, stealing a smoke and a phone call
in the shade of a narrow, rising way, suspended
under an August sky.

Séamas Patrick Patten

                                                                                                                 photo by Don Zirilli
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