Sanctuary, Cortona

Cortona was the last layover on our lop-sided circle through Tuscany.
My wife and I enjoyed everything about the small town:
      the main square, noisy with people’s conversations;
            the shopkeepers, unfailingly friendly;
                  the restaurants, flowing over onto the sidewalks.
One afternoon we visited this small church on the western edge of town.
Bernie eventually wandered back to the square while I stayed on,
      trying to record this scene as accurately as I could,
            especially that shaft of bright light.
You cannot tell it but several people are in the picture.
The room was so dark, causing the camera exposure to be so long,
      that their forms never registered on film since they were continually moving.
This image reminds me of my own life.
That same shaft of light sometimes comes shining in,
      so bright it’s unmistakable.
It’s not my own doing.
Others spirits are around me, and always have been,
      even if I do not see them.
It’s not just my own story, and never has been.
This sunlit sanctuary in Cortona will always serve to remind me.