She is surrounded by patchwork fields
as vivid as an artist’s impression:
here and there a stone church or umber
farmhouse scattered across her apron
stained with hues of olive, grape, tomato,
and scented with rosemary, basil, oregano,
zesty lemons and aromatic espresso.
She stretches her limbs along the Arno,
terracotta roofs reflecting heat and sun
back to the sky with prayers from the Duomo.
Medieval buildings, bridges and statuary
lean and totter towards each other,
imbued with essence of art and history,
traces of Michelangelo and da Vinci.
Kim M. Russell, 28th April 2020
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics: Take Me With You!
This Tuesday, Lillian is standing in for Merril to host Poetics with a very short prompt, which she hopes will be far-reaching!
Lillian says that many of us are ‘sheltering at home’, except for permitted trips to the shop and daily exercise in the form of a walk or a run. Most of us are confined to our own cities or towns. Airlines have curtailed flights; trains are on very limited schedules, cruise ships are not operating, and plans have been changed, postponed or simply cancelled.
Lillian wants us to travel through each other! Titles of poems should be places, cities, sites, places we’ve visited, like pins on a map, telling our readers where they’ll be travelling to. Poems should take us there, travelogues of a sort, full of imagery and description to help readers ‘take a vacation’ with our words.
The photos were taken on my last visit to Florence in 2016 for my daughter’s wedding.
writing in north norfolk 
Oh Kim….this is a perfect description of how I remember our 5 days in Florence! Except for the buzz-drone of so many motor scooters in the city! We loved our stay there….the Duomo is magnificent. We loved exploring this special place….the shops on the bridge across the Arno….we walked up a stone street I remember, almost through like an old village area? A woman all in black was coming down the hill carrying a basket….Ciao!
Thanks for taking me back there again! Wish you could see my smile right now! 🙂
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Thank you, Lill – now I’m smiling too! 🙂 Florence and Venice, two of my favourite places in the world.
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I remember Florence so different from when I traveled there while out interrailing many many years ago. I was probably a bit tired from everything I had seen, so I mostly remember walking around not knowing so much… I should visit there someday.
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I’ve never been a good traveller, so I didn’t do the interrailing thing. I’m an even worse traveller now and wonder if I have it in me to visit other countries or just stay in the UK – we do have some wonderful scenery here too, some of which is only a drive away. But you should visit Florence, it’s so full of history and art, and the food is delicious.
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Kim you make me want to go there and walk through that aromatic patchwork just out of town then come back for a delicious meal. The architecture is beautiful and I love the roof tiles.
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Thank you, Lisa!
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You’re welcome.
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Oooh!! I wanna go, I wanna go! The first sentence brought me there before I even saw your title. I could feel the sun on my skin. I’ve been to Rome many times but never Florence. Your images are so vivid. Nice one.
Pat
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Thank you, Pat. I would love to go to Florence and Venice one last time. My passport is due to expire soon and I wasn’t sure if it was worth renewing in the current situation. I’m glad Lill’s prompt gave me the opportunity to visit in my memories and imagination.
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It’s always a good thing to have a current passport. Do it by mail😊. Sounds like a wonderful trip!
Pat
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It is good to notice the patchwork fields surrounding a famous city.
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It is, Frank.
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My wife has been to Venice. She is the traveler in the family. Florence is on her list for a return trip. I llove any poem with “terracotta” in it.
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Cheers Glenn!
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I always wanted to visit Provence or Florence. They seem filled with sun-drenched romance. Thank you for allowing us to ride your memories and travel with you!
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Thanks for coming with me, Bev!
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I enjoyed the trip to Florence. Your descriptive images took me there. Loved the photos as well.
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Thank you, Dwight!
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Your poem took me there. It is so beautifully descriptive and included all the senses. I love it! Makes me want to go back and revise mine and us your model! Great job, Kim. ❤
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Thank you so much, Jan!
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I’ve never been to Florence, though we love Italy. I must get there sometime. I love all those italian scents/flavours/colours you introduce. The languid stretching of limbs in the sunlight. Lovely.
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Thank you, Sarah. I hope you do visit Florence, it’s a beautiful city.
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It’s me again with an aside. Does anyone know what’s. happened to Rob Kistner. He seems. To have gone missing for about 3. Months.
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I’m glad you mentioned him, Bev, as I also wondered why I hadn’t seen any posts from him.
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You took all my senses there, what a delightful aromatic and visual display of a place you love so much! And your daughter got married there, how romantic … did she marry a local?
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Thank you so much, Kate! Ellen has Irish nationality and she married a Brit. They chose Italy because I’d been so many times and they fell in love with Tuscany.
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ah a true international wedding!
Guess they wont be happening for a while now ..
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