Speranza e Sicurezza

Outside my window in Padova

Is a courtyard of terracotta roofs

Self-assured plants spreading out in ceramic pots

Cats rubbing against clay walls

Lines of laundry like prayer flags.

The sun is usually glaring down and it is always

unseasonably mild.

Tidy clusters of cozy lives,

A foreign peace meant for other borders,

Happiness clutched in deserving hands

As carelessly as their bags of oranges.

Pedestrians milling by, couples whispering in archways

Warm breath exhaling promises they will keep.

They look hopeful and...

safe

I want to gaze out and see the prayer flags,

I want to feel hopeful and safe, too.

Standing there like a widow

I think

HOPE

and SAFETY

Sounds different in Italian,

Speranza e sicurezza

are ships that I somehow missed,

and the body means well when the body pushes the transplant out.