Geo-Poetic Spaces : Bridge of Sighs

BRIDGE OF SIGHS

I feel you
working three jobs
to pay for a house and car
bankers own

I feel you
pushing shopping carts uphill
against
gravity’s
downward momentum

I feel you
reaching for a sense of solvency
that can’t be found
until you are lost in a place like Venice:

A tangle of narrow streets
that elevates eyes
above the monotony of
manipulated mechanics

It hurts me
that you believe your hands are too full
to drop to your knees in Saint Mark’s Square
let yourself drift without boatman or oar

Underneath
the Bridge of Sighs

Note: The Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy, connected the Doge’s palace with a prison.

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Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes

Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes was born and raised in San Diego, California. He attended Herbert Hoover High School and went on to study Religion and Theology at the University of San Diego. His book Intimate Geography, published by Ragged Sky Press, won the 2012 San Diego Book Award for Poetry. Ish, as he is known, has also written lyrics for German musicians Andrea Hörkens and Thomas Roderburg (Tender Art).