‘Imperfection is in some sort essential to all that we know in life’.

THE STONES OF VENICE John Ruskin

Many things are forbidden in Venice:

sitting on the steps in St Mark’s Square;

hailing water taxis from water bus pontoons;

putting out food waste except on the hook

provided between the designated hours

in order to deter gabbiani;

of which there are two species, compatriots,

the black-headed gull and the herring gull,

comune and reale respectively,

‘common’ and ‘royal’ surprisingly,

perched opportunely on bricole,

the stout oak posts that have always marked

the lagoon’s few navigable channels,

or raucous overhead, out of sight, a

remembrance of home, above the still canals,

the silent alleyways.