Thursday, August 7, 2014

Poetry Friday - City of a Hundred Spires

 
I just returned from exploring the city of Prague, so I was inspired to reflect on its beauty.
 
CITY OF A HUNDRED SPIRES
 
 
In the heart of Europe,
red copper roofs gleam.
Golden topped buildings and spires rise
out of the mountains.
Marionettes dance in the city's shops,
and crystal sparkles in the windows.
Golem protects the ghetto
and cobblestone streets are shadowed
by lanterns.
The ghost of  Šemík leaps
over the high ramparts of Vyšehrad,
and the moon glows.
Romanesque, Baroque, and Gothic
creations stand side by side;
a city wearing history on its sleeve.
Cemeteries house fallen heroes,
protestors of the Communist regime.
Bridges cross the sprawling river,
and castles loom and lurk.
She's a city of mystery and art,
beauty and breath...
Prague. 
 
 
Be sure to check out the Poetry Roundup at A Year of Reading!
 
 

10 comments:

  1. I've enjoyed seeing your pictures on FB, but you can capture so much more in a poem! Now I want to go to Prague!

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  2. Beautiful poem, Holly. I love the photo, too.

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  3. Love that you captured such a lovely part of your trip in a poem, too, Holly. Gorgeous to read about it, and to see parts of it.

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  4. Holly, I enjoyed your travelogue to a place I have never visited. Is this the poem/pic that you would consider sharing on Summer Serenity or do you have another?
    This is the line that resonated with me: a city wearing history on its sleeve.
    My offering this week is a recollected memory of summertime with my grandmother. http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2014/08/childhood-memories-awakened.html

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  5. You made me want to visit this "city wearing history on its sleeve" too!

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  6. "a city wearing history on its sleeve" - what a gorgeous line! So enjoyed your travelogue poem about Prague. It makes me want to see it for myself.

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  7. Hi there dearest Holly. I fell in love with Prague when I visited the city around two or three years back. "She's a city of mystery and art," - I find that one so apt. There seems to be a lot of hidden crevices in the city that I have yet to explore, and it's so exciting to share your journeys through FB. :)

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  8. Holly, your passion for Prague shows in the poem. Lovely!

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  9. Holly, I enjoyed reading the accounts of your mission trip to Prague, as well as your terrific poem. I have volunteered in Japan and have experienced this love from strangers. We also visited Budapest, and I can relate to "a city wearing history on its sleeve." For me the most moving sight was the shoe sculpture on the riverbank honoring the Jewish victims of the Nazi horror.

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  10. Beautiful poem, beautiful Prague. I hope some day to experience its beauty. = )

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