Minturno

The coin on the middle step
has lost its owner. The baby
lizard edging along the dirt
roadside approached it and
licked the wheat etching but

judged the metal inedible,
sticking out its blue tongue at
the tourists' cameras. The matron
sitting on the last step dropped
her only piece of currency but

was too distracted by the flashes,
turning her head away and
seeking refuge behind her
babushka. A townsman dropped
the coin after paying for a round

of beers for his visiting cousins,
not knowing when he will see
them again. A lonely mother is
combing the streets after exiting
the cathedral, wishing she could

have made that donation in her
daughter's memory. The coin
rolled out of a widower's pocket
as he pulled out a handkerchief at
the foot of his wife's grave.