Hadrian

My old heart
Struggles amid
The silent shadows
Of a pool with columns
In the glade which was once
Hadrian’s palace near the
Tivoli Gardens landward
Of Roma a place he’d
Not have had much
Time to spend as
The Emperor so
Often traveled
Around his
Empire to
Review
And resolve
But here is calm
Silence contemplation
Hadrian must have longed
For but seldom got like
My heart’s desire to
Rest as I try to stay
With the ship’s
Tour walking
Fast from
Tivoli to
Palace
Then
Our next
Cruise port.
I am unaware
I will by the Fall
In a few months
I will be dead of a
Massive heart attack
In the ICU the day after
My triple bypass four
Days after my bout
With congestive
Heart failure
But survive
And when
My sister
Asks me
Did I see a
Light I answer
Yes there was a
Light and a face with
Two eyes a mouth and pointy
Ears who said That..that ...
That’s all folks! but the
Light in my memory
Was the soft light
In the shady glen
Of Hadrian’s
Palace far
Away but
Clear in
My memory.