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| Maurice Prendergast's Monte Pincio, Rome |
I want to see your Italy
where water washed colors
make me feel at home
in another country
make me feel at home
in another country
Let me hear the swish of skirts
as ladies stroll across
cobbled streets on their way
as ladies stroll across
cobbled streets on their way
to where ladies go on rainy afternoons
The carriages roll and people go
but the woman in the white dress waits
did she know she was the center
of your Italy?
You render graceful golden trees
and I wonder if there's
an umbrella for me
in your Italy.
The carriages roll and people go
but the woman in the white dress waits
did she know she was the center
of your Italy?
You render graceful golden trees
and I wonder if there's
an umbrella for me
in your Italy.
*The poem is a reflection on Maurice Prendergast's Monte Pincio, Rome, ca. 1898–99. It was part of the "Prendergast in Italy" exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston in 2010. I was especially drawn to the woman in white at the railing who seems to be looking directly at the artist - and the viewer. She appears to be the still point amidst all of the activity around her.
