i savor this cigarette
cigarette is the moment
both toxic, temporary

 

tourists exploit the late April sun

photograph one another before the fountain

in the square

moments etched in synthetic permanence

 

the bell of a cycle peals

upstaged by gongs from the Basilica 

 

on the stone wall abutting the canal
a lizard skitters alongside me

reconsiders, retreats

 

an infant’s cries recede, then conclude
supplanted by conversations in Arabic,
Italian

crowding out my English reflections

 

the moment abated
the cigarette defunct

i forgot myself

everything was at once precious

and immaterial