Venice

Venice

And suddenly the train dumps you on the lip
of the Grand Canal and you catch the vaporetto
that follows the watery “s” to the San Giglio stop,
and you cross three bridges on your way
to the albergo, and within an hour
you see that Venice is filled with saints,
and the black gondolas glide like sleek carriages
beneath the bridges, and the gondoliers
really do wear striped shirts and sing
as they skull along, and it’s all an act,
but the city itself seems a theatrical maze,
and you’re going to get lost on your way
to St. Mark’s Square where you’ll visit
the Doge’s Palace and walk through
one of Europe’s largest rooms
and cross the Bridge of Sighs
to the cramped dungeons and scrawled-on walls
that only hint at the anguish that remains
as solid as anything in the city built on water.

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Interview with Charles Bernstein about L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Poetry

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Wall Street Journal video about Guantanamo prison poetry