Tuesday 15 April 2008

Catania

Catania is a rackety, raffish city
sprawled between Mount Etna and the sea.

Tourists pass through without stopping,
on their way to fashionable coastal resorts.

It is crowded with noisy scooters,
dented cars and fearless pedestrians.

The pavements are hard black lava
but the walls are pistachio, apricot, lemon.

For a short while I have had breakfast
on the terrace among the pale domes,

wandered through back streets of tiny shops,

sat in the Piazza Duomo watching the world go by

and, standing on the balcony outside my room,
I have wondered at the cloud of swallows,
pausing on their long migration north.

10 comments:

carolyn said...

Fabulous, welcome back Alice.

tess said...

it looks heavenly, and I'm so glad you saw more than T5!

blackbird said...

Beautiful -
I'm so glad you are back!

Anonymous said...

You make me envious!

dragonfly said...

I love Italy, so it's always a pleasure to see photos and yours are brilliant as usual!
Welcome home!

BreadBox said...

Welcome home --- it looks like a fantastic trip!

N.

Tracy said...

Welcome home, Alice...thank you for the lovely Italian images...looks heavenly! ((HUGS))

Ali said...

What is it that makes it so darn desirable? Because it is, though the exact reason is hard to put your finger on.

Anonymous said...

I like the photo of the old woman, the balloon and the baby best.

Allison said...

Nice to have you back--the photo with the elderly woman and the toddler is entirely TOO SWEET!