I run my hand up the banister
lift my foot up to the next stair,
effortlessly, like a young man.
There’s a cool high wind in the house.
This morning I sat outside on a white chair
next to the statue until my wife called.
I need to wipe her face I said, The goldfinch
sat on her head again.
The raccoons upstairs are taking down
the ornaments and pictures of sailboats and sardines
we bought along the Arno.
Once I caught one running away with a piece
of weather vane in its mouth.
Margaret sets a plate of linguini and artichokes
in front of me. The wine burns my throat.
After dinner I put my feet up on the tilted ottoman.
My face in last year’s fading Astronomy.
Slowly, water from the kitchen sink fills up the house.

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Lenny DellaRocca’s latest collection is Pandemonium, winner of the 2025 Slipstream Chapbook Competition.
He founded South Florida Poetry Journal – SoFloPoJo- in 2016- and was its original publisher and editor. He remains there as a reader.
His latest project is 12 Poets, an online poetry journal established with Jeff Santosuosso (formerly of Panoply) that publishes- as the name says- 12 poets each issue. We are open for submissions at 12poets.com