Fontana Nelle Via Romana

Fontana Nelle Via Romana

There is a fountain in the Via del Babuino,
guarded by a naked stone-man so old now
that his face is disappearing by the dust of
time; you can see he’s mad and ignored by
the women who come hear to get buckets
of soft water for washing their hair.

The stone-man has to endure this ignominy,
but his consolation is that he will guard
this street fountain after the women have
gone to their graves, what’s left of them is
an image on a photo in a black frame, thrown
into a worm eaten chest on the attic.