Roman Adventure

Cast Your Coin

Mid-summer and I’m combating the swelling heat -

Double chocolate gelato stain on my lips

Dark brown on strawberry pink -

My black leather sandals - gladiator style (naturally) -

Clack on the cobblestone streets of Rome.

I’m looking for that Italian “Wonder”

(You know, the one in the Lizzie McGuire Movie,

The one that makes dreams come true).

We are coming from the Pantheon

(Before that, we’d accidentally

Stumbled upon Trajan’s Column,)

Down grandiose curved marble steps,

After the spectacle we had scourged the City of Love for:

The Trevi Fountain.

It is crowded; a labyrinth to weave through

Behemoth flashing cameras,

Posing couples,

Strollers, babies,

Tilting gelato cones,

Hairy men selling all sorts of Italian tourist must-haves.

I see the towering façade of columns

Above the hats and sweaty scalps,

The gorgeous marble Baroque building

Resting on a sea of broken rocks. 

Ancient sculptures, still aesthetically pleasing,

Suspend in motion, twist and turn amongst the rock-bed,

All under the gaze of the watchful central statues

Hiding in the alcoves of the building’s wall:

Ocean, Abundance, Salubrity.

Between the semicircle of people

Gathered from the far and the

Near reaches of this world,

Lies a crystalline clear pool -

Water flowing in a triple-fall, splattering

In an elegant arc from the widest fountain.

Awed, I step, slow and teetering

Up to the pool’s edge.

I have come for more than a photo,

More than my bucket list.

I have come for the myth.

From my pocket, I draw out a golden coin - 50 cent euro -

And squeeze it - tight it my sunkissed hand.

My eyelids squish tight,

I turn my back to the pouring fountain,

I whisper my wish.

Now,

I let the coin fly

Sky high over my shoulder,

Arcing into the depths of the crystalline waters

To join the sea of bronze silver and gold that covers its floor.

Cast in your coin, the myth goes,

And your wish will come true.