A lone guitar strummed on a hot summers day

Pouring out melodies across the way

Unbroken views across Tuscany

I know I have found tranquillity

The sun beats down over Umbria

Out of place, you drink Spanish Sangria

A lone guitar strummed on a hot summers day

Through the canals of Venice, a gondola winds its way

Pigeons, people, views across the Piazza

You’d much prefer Henley and its Regatta

I lap it up; you spit it out

I sit quietly: all you do is shout

A lone guitar strummed on a hot summers day

Entranced by the views of the Old Apian Way

The coliseum over-run with cats

You’re not in Rome, that’s a fact

History infused through my being

You hate all this futile sightseeing

“Why do all the people cheer?

That man in white?” “The Pope, dear”

A lone guitar strummed on a hot summers day

The outlook is foggy over the Naples bay

Sorrento is breathtaking. Along the Amalfi coast

You whinge about wanting your Sunday roast

“Pass the newspaper dear, it’s too much for me”

You yearn for England; I am grateful for Italy

I’ve found my Heaven on earth here

Yours is a packet of peanuts and a pint of beer

© Andrea Coltman