After the painting by Theodore Robinson
Two priests, on the narrow path to heaven,
pass a balcony brimming with clementine.
Like crows, they glance up, and see a woman
with red hair, sipping a glass of Gragnano.
She smiles and tells them there is more
than one way to the top of the mountain.
Ahead, they can see bleached plaster walls,
the brilliant white light of the houses,
and the Bar Alfredo, that stands, teetering
on the brink like a drunk fisherman back from
the catch of a lifetime. Beyond is the place
where brick gives way to rock, and where
shadows give way to light; the crags on the
grassy slopes that we must all, one day, climb.
