Girls in Lisboa
I.
You speak of dreams
how in them we never say we are sorry,
at the rooftop bar of Bairro Alto Hotel
night in Lisboa is crisp as Vinho Verde,
the city below us punctuated with stars.
II.
Rua Augusta unrolls against
the breath of afternoon, walking
toward Praça do Comércio, toward
yellow, white and the blue of the Rio Tejo.
What is written is kept coded in language.
III.
In the back of a stall at Feira da Ladra,
we find vintage photos of naked women.
Their portuguese curves, rechonchuda,
voluptuosa. Outside, the Alfama sky
is blue as a barn swallow.
The "thieves market," says the vendor,
is named for a woman thief.
IV.
We drink espresso and don't worry
about falling down, hold hands while crossing
the streetcar tracks near Largo do Camões
as marbled cobblestoned streets slip
between days.
Alyssa Yankwitt is a poet, teacher, and bartender. Most recently, her poems have appeared in Curio Poetry, Poetry In Performance, Up the Staircase Quarterly, The Missing Slate, IthacaLit, and PressBoardPress. She has incurable wanderlust, loves drinking whiskey, and hates writing about herself in third person.
I.
You speak of dreams
how in them we never say we are sorry,
at the rooftop bar of Bairro Alto Hotel
night in Lisboa is crisp as Vinho Verde,
the city below us punctuated with stars.
II.
Rua Augusta unrolls against
the breath of afternoon, walking
toward Praça do Comércio, toward
yellow, white and the blue of the Rio Tejo.
What is written is kept coded in language.
III.
In the back of a stall at Feira da Ladra,
we find vintage photos of naked women.
Their portuguese curves, rechonchuda,
voluptuosa. Outside, the Alfama sky
is blue as a barn swallow.
The "thieves market," says the vendor,
is named for a woman thief.
IV.
We drink espresso and don't worry
about falling down, hold hands while crossing
the streetcar tracks near Largo do Camões
as marbled cobblestoned streets slip
between days.
Alyssa Yankwitt is a poet, teacher, and bartender. Most recently, her poems have appeared in Curio Poetry, Poetry In Performance, Up the Staircase Quarterly, The Missing Slate, IthacaLit, and PressBoardPress. She has incurable wanderlust, loves drinking whiskey, and hates writing about herself in third person.
