CASTIGLIONE DEL LAGO
Jack Lindeman

For Gary and Stefano
 
October rained upon low ground
with umbrellas mushrooming
along the via Roma
like some new invention of edibles. 
Yet facing the broken wall
I caught one truncated tower
in the camera’s eye
poking its jagged neck
into a gray cloud
as though it were searching
for its absconded stones
in the sky’s miasma. 
Lucky my legs were strong
since those crenellated ramparts
took some walking
to get me back seven centuries ago.  


Jack Lindeman has published two books of poems, Twenty-One Poems (Atlantis Editions) and As If (Finishing Line Press), the latter of which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. A third book of poems, Measuring Dorcas, has been accepted for publication by Finishing Line Press. His poems have appeared in Commonweal, The Nation, Massachusetts Review, New World Writing, Poetry Magazine, Slipstream, etc.