Via Appia, Rome

Stones burnished by hooves
that echoed once with sureness
over rounded rock
scraping the granite surface,
clatters carried on winds
sweeping the ancient world.

Heaviness placed
by sure hands in rough mosaics
reflect unimpeded power
scanning distant hills,
dreaming conquest.

Softened now
to greys and browns
by airs perfumed of centuries past,
the antique road yet glints
of armored ghosts that guard her stones
under clear Roman skies.

 "Tuscan Hills" Water Color by Janet Butler