Outside the wall I chew gum,
\nenjoy the cool touch of morning air.
\nIn a line of humanity
\nI watch cars, bicycles,
\nthe people of Rome going to work.
\nThey look like my neighbors.
\nIt is fun to be free of tasks,
\nthings I must do,
\nto contemplate Adam touching God.<\/p>\n
For all the glory inside,
\nI love this Roman street,
\nits black shutters,
\nthe sound of voices,
\nchildren going to school.<\/p>\n
What would Michelangelo say?
\nGive me a brush, Ted?
\nGive me paint to color faces?
\nI want some gum.
\nThe women are beautiful,
\nthe children are flowers.
\nNever again will I imprison
\nbirds on a ceiling,
\nput God in the shadows,
\nhave angels look longingly at the door.
\nPerhaps, perhaps.<\/p>\n
The gray wall outside the Vatican
\nhas little flowers in it,
\nmicroscopic,
\navalanches of dust.
\nThe people talk of the news,
\nwhere they come from,
\nand I watch people pass,
\nanother tableau for the artist.
\nClarity,
\nin the twenty-first century of eternity.
\nAnd I am content to see nothing else.
\nTo be alive,
\nwith Michelangelo whispering
\nin my ear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Outside the wall I chew gum, enjoy the cool touch of morning air. In a line of humanity I watch cars, bicycles, the people of…<\/p>\n