Contributor: Thomas Zimmerman

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Venice

Hotel Carlton

Venezia, the road signs read along
the way from fair Verona. Then, I tramped
from green canals to tourist traps: a wrong
turn here, a merchant there, the jewelry cramped
with T-shirts, shellfish, stacks of lace. I bought
three neckties: naked David, phallic spires,
the lion of Saint Mark. I found a spot
beside the Grand Canal to nurse the fires
of sunburned nose and neck, to drink a cold
Peroni. On Burano Island, I
was nearly drawn into a fight: the white
wine running out, the harried waiters bold
enough to curse. I heard Pound’s grave’s nearby.
My own mind’s drowning in its sea of night.


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Thomas Zimmerman teaches English at Washtenaw Community College, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His chapbook "In Stereo" has been published as part of The Camel Saloon Books on Blog series.