There's Something About It

There's something about Venice,

the bride of the sea,

that draws me back,

that pulls me as if it were my home

in some time long forgotten,

in another life.

"The Heart of Venice" © 2005 Meri Arnett-Kremian

Perhaps it's the gentle lapping of the water,

the mist that makes things vanish and reappear
like magic. 

Mist means spirit to me -

spirit made visible, 

dancing in light,

muting the sounds of the everyday world.

Maybe it's the rich sense of history,

the turning a corner into surprise,
the visual smörgåsbord beckoning 

through every passageway

and across every bridge.

It might be because I went to Venice

with someone I loved

truly, madly, deeply.

I can't disregard the possibility that my dreams

of Venice are tied up with him

even though that romance, riveting as it was,
and that journey I was blessed to take
with someone so woven into my psyche,
are just memories from my past.

Perchance it was the sense I had
that each new place
was somehow familiar,
that the spirit of the place
was welcoming my soul back
to a place it was once embodied.


It might be one of these things,

or all of these things,

but I know one thing:

 Venice calls to me.

How shall I answer?