Tawny feathers grip terracotta ridge
Cobbles glisten where rain pooled midnight
No espresso steam lifts yet
Only owl and waking light
Piazza holds its breath in amber
Shadows stretch on Via Condotti
Two voices trace the same old prayer
Before the city drinks its coffee
Marble saints keep silent watch
Fountain murmurs psalms in Latin
Altar boy once, now stranger
Counts the steps to morning mass
Wing beats cut the crystalline air
Mouse darts near the Spanish Steps
Choir memory folds into instinct
Hymn fragments drift on cooling breeze
Piazza holds its breath in amber
Shadows stretch on Via Condotti
Two voices trace the same old prayer
Before the city drinks its coffee
Bell tower strikes the quarter hour
Shutter slats fold back one by one
Flour dust coats a baker's apron
First cup poured, the spell undone
Tawny feathers lift from ridge
Cobbles dry beneath boot heels
No espresso steam lifts yet
Owl and altar boy both vanish
Piazza holds its breath in amber
Shadows stretch on Via Condotti
Two voices trace the same old prayer
Before the city drinks its coffee
Harpsichord fades on cold stone
Flute breath settles into silence
