Ancient cities

The Colosseum, Rome, Oct 2019, (c) Shivangi

All old cities wrinkle alike

Their wrinkles are frowns 

On blood spilt and smiles

On lives lived. 

Their wrinkles are proof 

That life is unstoppable 

It slows down occasionally 

It picks up mad speed 

Or it swings along 

But it doesn’t stay put.

It moves, sometimes, 

With the purpose of 

Vespasian building the Colosseum, 

Sometimes with the recklessness 

Of the lion tearing the gladiator 

From limb to limb. 

City, my ageing mistress 

Still living, breathing, heaving 

A beast, but also a beauty 

Of my dreams, and of stuff 

Of my wildest nightmares 

Old, lovely, passionate City

You are a Phoenix, rising from the dead

You are also born new every morning 

First ray of the sun inflicting upon you

The fiercest life you’ll ever life. 

Shivangi x 

6 Oct 2019, 9.52 am, Colosseum, Roma