City of Bridges and Sighs

Give me a city of bridges and sighs,

Shimmering water under cloudless skies,

Flocking pigeons in St Mark’s Square

Fed by the crowds of tourists there.

Give me the surprise of a piazzale,

The clanging of the bell in the Campanile,

Echoes of gondoliers in the early morning haze

And overcrowded vaporetti in the watery maze.

Give me a labyrinth of shadowy alleys,

Casanova’s ghost haunting campi and calli.

Give me shops full of colourful Murano glass

Or a marvellous miscellany of carnival masks.

Give me an ice cream from a gelateria,

Wine and a meal in a friendly pizzeria.

Give me shimmering water under cloudless skies

In Venice, the city of bridges and sighs.

 

© Kim M. Russell, 2016

My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics Take Me Along!

This evening at the dVerse Poets Pub we are writing travelogue poetry with Lillian, who has asked us to recall our vacations and/travel memories and write a poem that takes us to a place where we’ve been, describes a place, a culture, a person we met somewhere in our country, city, or abroad.

37 thoughts on “City of Bridges and Sighs”

  2. Oooooh thank you! Venice is a place I’ve always wanted to visit and you’ve just taken me there!! LOVE the description….especially the circling around to the phrase “city of bridges and sighs”….just like taking a gondolier ride around those wonderful waterways and ending back at our starting point to hop off and continue exploring! Wonderful!! So glad you joined in on this prompt, Kim! PS: photos are a delight!

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  3. Ah Venice, only been there in the movies–dozens of times. As stated prior, this perfectly shaped & rhymed poetic is a joy–& it really has a genuine sense of place. I remember finally visiting NYC years ago, & having the rush of familiarity, since I had seen the city in hundreds of films; smile.

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    1. Thank you, Glenn. I enjoyed writing it – it reminded me how much I love it. Venice was the first place we ever visited in Italy for my husband’s fiftieth birthday. We’ve been about five times since and it hasn’t lost its magic.

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  8. You did a wonderful job on this! I visited Venice twice and found your poem and rhymes to be lovely. I love your references to the wonders in the city. I felt as if I were on a gondola being taken about and showed the amazing things the city offeres.

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  10. Sigh.. this
    reminds me..
    i’ve only been
    to Disney World
    and Washington DC..
    spoiLed by the most Beautiful
    Beaches and River front
    LandS in Panhandle
    oF Florida
    alivE..
    but StILL
    the wanderlust
    bites.. the steak and
    ice cream served up
    by Nature every day..
    i can’t get
    tired of
    it.. iT is
    jUsT too Good..;)

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    1. The only place I’ve visited in the US is New York. Compared to the UK and Europe, America is immense, there is so much to explore, so much diversity and I will never get to experience even a fraction of it. But I still have Venice 🙂

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  16. Bridges! I framed my response with bridge imagery in mind as well. 🙂 I enjoyed reading all of the tangible visuals along with the bridge structure. So many details here to help drop us right into those poem … and Venice. 🙂

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