There is so much to see in Rome – starting with the art treasures in the Vatican. While representing some of the poorest people in the world the Catholic Church accumulated a huge wealth of treasures and art. One wonders why?
Apart from the Vatican it seems that every corner has an architectural joy, a historical gem or sculpture.
Being Portuguese there is a strong Catholic presence. Religion is big. The typical blue Portuguese tilework is impressive and the churches lavish. Even for someone like me, for whom religion is abhorrent, one cannot help but be impressed with the beauty of the artwork.
Tourism is their main source of income. You can go up the hill and pay for a sled-ride down through the streets. I imagine it used to be really wild but these days, with health and safety, it’s pretty tame.
LOVE SPENT
My love’s grown old
The fires run cold
My passion spent
In giving vent
As we drift along
To winter’s end.
For we walk together
And apart
And cannot change the picture.
Where once we would have wrestled with the world
We must now accept it.
It now takes all the time
To fashion a single brushstroke
That may not alter sense
Or produce a single joke.
The meaning has been drained
Into the mundane.
OPHER 5.2.98
I have been told that I am obsessive. That is true. When I am consumed with a passion it is all-encompassing.
Some of my passions burn themselves out.
My art I approached with a fury. I flung paint at canvas as my head burnt with ideas and need.
Then I woke up one day and the cinders merely glowed.
