For Alice Gruppioni, who died here

she came here for her honeymoon

she left, to go to her funeral

a sun-kissed shore, that’s what they call Venice

so many people have come here

to come home:

they come here and the last piece of

the puzzle that is themselves,

slips into place:

and you go: oh yeah!

THIS is the place I’ve been looking for

I always wanted to live in the Gingerbread House

I wanted to fall asleep on the sand

and wake up to find the moon talking

to me –

and saying: look! look! look!

here I am the moon

the moon –

“by the light of the silvery moon”

we played day and night

walking, hopping + skipping down the boardwalk

trying a second or third time

to get this childhood right:

just want to stay at home and play

with glue, feathers, paints, glitter –

did not get enough of that –

that girl from Italy =

we are so sorry this happened to you.

it’s so sad –

we bless you and your family

our hearts reach out to your hearts –

we know what sorrow is –

we share your sorrow with ours.

Mary Getlein