"Questions for a Pink House in Cinque Terre" by Helen Bar-Lev, Israel

(copyright Helen Bar-Lev)
(copyright Helen Bar-Lev)

Questions for a Pink House in Cinque Terre

 

Pink house on the cliff

amongst other multicoloured ones

kissing each other like honeycombs

 

When you open the green shutters

and greet the morning

do you touch the rock

on which your house stands

 

Do you wonder at the strength

of the stone to support all these homes

and do you worry you might tumble

into the waters below

 

Do you watch the walls

turn red at sunset

and do you bless the reflection

of the water on the windows

 

And when the glow of the sun

hits the stones of the cliffs

do you gasp in gratitude

at the grandeur of it all

 

Or do you notice nothing

except when the exterior

needs painting and the plumbing

is problematic as would be expected

in a house standing

for a thousand years

 

I should like to live where you do

snuggled amongst your neighbours

see what you see,

climb those steep steps

breathe the sea air

 

But alas

here I am

in an eighteen year old house

in a mere hundred year old village

 

I belong here

I belong there

 

C 2.2014 Helen Bar-Lev

 

Link: http://www.helenbarlev.com/

 

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