A Villa in Greece

An ancient palm,
thick with time and dignity,
patterns the weathered paleness
with shifting lace
that falls, obliquely, through
windows blankly observing
disintegration and ruin.
The lightest of breezes animates
tangled shadows
but the villa remains impervious,
her fragile ghosts slipping back
to dusty portraits as footsteps approach,
to stop, unexpectedly, at the silent click
of invisible doors, closing.

"Rural Detail" Water Color Painting by Janet Butler