Old Oxford town
rolling into view.
*
From the tour bus window
I vaguely remember the distant past;
I remember the neighborhood,
the houses,
the stores.
*
Could it be
you were my home in the past,
quaint old Oxford?
*
The place I remember,
the monastery,
quill in hand,
scribing for a living,
*
the scent of lavender
wafting in the breeze
across the open court yard
to my open window
as I gaze out at the Jabberwocky Tree.
*
Did I walk these grounds before,
stroll lazily through the forbidden garden,
worship in the cathedral–
*
the cathedral whose stones
speak of an ancient past,
whispering secrets
while sunlight illuminates
the Rosetta window,
beckoning me remember this shrouded place,
a place hidden in the optical illusions
of my imagination?
*
Oh, Oxford!
If I had my way,
I’d come home again;
home to you and the wonderland
buried deep
*
in the recesses
*
of my mind.
***
Toni Calvello’s work has appeared in many national and international journals including Haiku Society of America, Poetry Life and Times (Great Britain), Arabesques Review (Algeria) Paterson Literary Review, Edison Literary Review, Chiron Review, and Voices of Israel. (Israel). She was awarded Honorable Mention in a haiku contest held by Haiku Calendar Rokovnik — Ludgreg, Croatia
She teaches in the Intellectual Heritage Dept. at Temple University and the Writing Rhetoric Depts. at University of the Sciences Philadelphia and Rowan University.
***
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