Holding On A Minute Longer*

A poem by Beverly Stock.

Photo credit: Amazing World/Uttam Kasakhikari/

#gianthands, Venice, Italy

Holding on a minute longer,

Or the windows might go under.

With moisture-soaked walls.

Collapse could be caused.

If not for the 5th century AD.,

With the Roman Empire retreating,

And refugees then fleeing,

To the lagoons; they hurriedly made,

And drove wood stakes, into clay.

Put planks on, then platforms laid,

Expanding the city; generations to raise

Which built the foundation of Venice today.

*Adaptation of quotation by George Patton