wander the eternal city
passing frescos and paintings
such architecture, music, sculpture
Michelangelos, Berninis, Leonardos
set beside the literature of ages
ideas torn from the heart, the soul
of creatives ancient and modern
imprisoned marble forms emergent
paint on canvas worked, reworked
imaginings snared by pen and paper
elusive melody by stave and bow freed
but for what has each one striven
reaching far outwith experience
grasping some transcendent glimpse
to make sense, explore meaning
of a perfection beyond knowing
or desperate in their desire to fill
erase that howling void within, strip
inescapable strata of nothingness
hoping for revelation, praying


14th May 2025
Stephen Cooper