You tie your bow to travertine
While café shutters keep the dark
No espresso steam disturbs the scene
Just gulls that trace a lazy arc
Tugboat rests on glassy tide
Rome still dreams on seven hills
Rope coils deep where shadows hide
Morning waits for human wills
Your diesel coughs a gravel hymn
Past Vatican the light extends
No tourists clutch a map or whim
Just bakers lifting flour ends
Tugboat rests on glassy tide
Rome still dreams on seven hills
Rope coils deep where shadows hide
Morning waits for human wills
You know each current by its scar
Each bollard worn by generations
No fare to chase no near or far
Just water holding its breath patient
Tugboat rests on glassy tide
Rome still dreams on seven hills
Rope coils deep where shadows hide
Morning waits for human wills
A motorino breaks the hush
Cornetti steam on marble tables
City wakes without a rush
While you hold fast your steel cables
Weather teaches what wheels forget
Patience pays what haste spends
You've hauled the heavy through regret
Now dawn becomes your only friend
First spoon clinks in ceramic cup
Piazza fills with leather soles
You'll push the barge when harbor wakes up
But now you're anchored where history rolls
Tugboat rests on glassy tide
Rome still dreams on seven hills
Rope coils deep where shadows hide
Morning waits for human wills
Anchor deep the day begins
You've earned the quiet that you're in
