You trace the stamp with frozen thumb
Ink bleeds where morning light has come
The Coliseum folds in half
Pinned behind a café photograph
Rome wakes slow but you wake slower
Postcard rusts on cobalt border
No one reads the words you wrote
Only pigeons watch the note
Espresso steam lifts off the square
Vespa engines cut the air
Altar bells ring six o'clock
You press the card to cold brick block
Rome wakes slow but you wake slower
Postcard rusts on cobalt border
No one reads the words you wrote
Only pigeons watch the note
Your alto hum starts low and deep
A hymn the city doesn't keep
Breath shapes notes the stone absorbs
Morning prayer in broken chords
Rome wakes slow but you wake slower
Postcard rusts on cobalt border
No one reads the words you wrote
Only pigeons watch the note
A barista unlocks green shutters
Clatters cups and butter utters
You slide the card in rusted slot
Metal teeth catch what you forgot
Choir voice cracks on high C
Stone remembers melody
Hands that folded paper tight
Now reach for coming morning light
Tourists soon will fill the square
Snap the view and leave it bare
But you already know the cost
Every postcard gathers rust
Rome wakes slow but you wake slower
Postcard rusts on cobalt border
No one reads the words you wrote
Only pigeons watch the note
Rome wakes slow but you wake slower
Postcard rusts on cobalt border
Clean guitar fades on cobblestone
Last note breathed and left alone
