My American Love
        Thirty-Two Poems for Wendy


Thirty-Two.

Anniversary in Rome

        By Majid Naficy


We go to Rome
To celebrate our twentieth anniversary
In the  Mithraeum.* 

Walking there, 
We stop by a tavern
And order Aperol Spritzes.

Outside the window
A pair of doves
Is making love.

Toast to the doves!
Toast to the doves!
Toast to us!

Tomorrow we go to morning service
When Papa Francis
Releases his doves.

But now we must get to the Mithraeum
To learn the mystery of love
From the Persian Mithra.

        November 8, 2019

* Mithraeum was the temple of Mithras in the Roman Empire. Roman Mithras originated from the Persian Mithra, the God of friendship and contract.

POEMS: 1. On the Bridge, 2. I Hope the Water Returns, 3. Empty Baskets 4. Coffee Maker 5. Anxious Heart 6. Washing 7. Bougainvillea 8. Simple Truth 9. Persian-Singing Bird 10. The Gardener 11. Lost Cypresses 12. Visiting the Wall 13. Is Love a Glass of Hormones? 14. Independence Day 15:  Oh, Pain 16. The Season of Picking Raspberries 17. Who Is More Envied? 18. Watching Baseball 19. A Night in Calistoga 20. Dreaming “High Noon" 21. I Do Not Write Poetry for Eternity 22. Our Footprints in Maui 23. Bay to Breakers 24. The Altar of Poetry 25. Dublin 26. Watching the Snow with Wendy 27. George Habash Sandwich 28. Morning Blend 29. Stroke 30. Mating Dove 31. In or Out of Love? 32.  Anniversary in Rome

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