or,
to give it its German name,
The Moldau,
Prague,
the summer of 2012
(but it could have been anywhere
anytime)
a calm, sunlit scene
under the hustle and bustle of Charles’ Bridge …..
a cool, panama-hatted artist –
from nearby Brno –
(sure to become someone famous someday soon)
rows his new American girlfriend –
from far-off Oconomowoc –
past a panicky fleet of bobbing ducklings
through this never-to-be-forgotten golden evening
into a blue paradisical forever-after
but this particular moment
when she laughs and says something
which he does not understand
but smiles nevertheless as he rows
and they look into each other’s eyes….
this is the moment