The Tiber in Rome

The river idles
Contained in the city

Separated from the temporary
City of churches
And of office buildings,
An impotent reminder of
All time,
A forgotten hint of the eternal

No past
Or present -
An Eternal Now.

Sometimes I am struck
With doubt and fear
As if some suppressed sin
Lay deep within the river,
Staring up at me
From the grimy depths

The river makes
Me uneasy.