DUTCH SPRING

I walk through
the 16th century

imperceptibly
passing on into

the 17th without
even knowing I had

done so and here
are Dutch people

staring at me
wondering where I've come from.

I look into their eyes
long dead by now

their painted faces
gazing out of golden frames

windows into
all that's passed.

Trying to remember
Rembrandt saying

'"...the light from other's
minds..."

And here is Saskia
still asleep in a few brushstrokes.

I tiptoe away
an intruder into

their long ago lives
different yet the same

as mine
The Jewish Bride sad

to see me go
back into the bustle

of Spring
in the Amsterdam of now.