Old World Virtues, Forgotten

Photograph by Wmpearl of the Opus 24: Rome, from the Campagna, Sunset, painting by Thomas Moran; courtesy: Wikimedia Commons (work in the public domain)
Old world landscapes delight absent crumbling reminders
New glories await, the past forgotten under ephemeral towers
Flashing lights and beauty, ever chasing an unquenching desire
Old rules washed away by the tears of the lonely hollowed host
Hidden away by magic eloping with a restless horror
Begotten by the greed of the toothless terror of vanity’s folly
Naive souls, made and unmade by Felix’s whims
Believing the uncured dream can ever be made real

Photograph by Florian Klauer of the Hollywood Sign — Los Angeles, CA — at sunset; courtesy: Wikimedia Commons (work in the public domain)
© 2019 W J Fitzgerald