Midnight in Rome
It’s midnight in Rome
& nobody knows
what year it is
Writing by candlelight
has become popular of late
encrypted messages
sent all these centuries
the undeliverables
circulating in the periphery
It’s midnight in Rome
& a little girl is fast asleep
safely in her second story bedroom
her projected outer self
sitting at the window
receiving & translating
writing feverishly
by candlelight
august two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
