Now & Then

 

 

Now, the streets are worn and cobbled,

but among them I still hover, hobble—

survivor of the fate, the madness, of the war.

 

Then, it was otherworldly,

that Italian sketchbook summer,

flesh-flushed out in lush, romantic watercolor form.

 

Then, we walked

through wildflowers,

caught our dresses on the hands of orchids,

bridged the brushsong birdsong,

daisies threaded in our hair.

 

Now, that page has turned,

but I return to the art of tenderness alone—

stumbling, trying still

to catch our spirits’ crash

before the fall broke us to stone.

 

 

© 2025 Jennifer Wagner

 

Shay’s Word Garden Word List: Tenderness

dVerse Poetics: Fated, OLN

Day 24 NPM