we saved death
for venice 

continually postponing 
introducing the word

unused
or avoided 

not even
spelled out

in endless
conversations
instructions
reprimands
required
over four
years of 
rearing

prior to 
handing it over 
on the lagoon 

he substituted
‘broken’

the dinosaurs
were ‘broken’

the bee is ‘broken’

I deemed
this diction
appropriate 
enough
for how fragile
we all are

so we let 
it suffice

lucky no
family 
funerals 
spoiled
this surprise

until we arrived 
at san michele

legs still wobbly 
from the vaporetto 

on our way to
see brodsky
and pound

my wife delicately
explained the crypts

with words even
deeper than ‘death’
nekrós
thánatos 

I listened
mindfully
to her
gently
explain

while 
the sun
breeze
and a large 
magnolia
spoiled me
on this quick
vacation
to the land 
of the living

yes people’s
bones are in these
spíti (small homes)

I chimed in
‘it happens to everyone’

perhaps the perfect weather
shielded us from questioning

he accepted
while he fumbled 
with the one euro roses
we had bought 
and he carried
asking only which
flowers go to whom

I told him he could pick
once we found our friends
he got a kick out of
seeing all the pens
planted in the 
topsoil of both graves

giving him the idea
he burrowed small 
craters with his hands
and I helped him put
in the stems and packing
the dirt around so they 
would stand 

we admired our men
of letters googled olga
rudge, ezra’s faithful violinist

and my wife and I thanked
the maker of watermark
for bringing us together 

all the while the littlest stroller-napped 
and the sun had yet to set
so we decided we had time 
enough to head to murano afterall

knowing we hadn’t prevented 
the rude surprise 
still bound to come

we played hide 
and seek

all the way
back to the boat