Pergola at Villa Pisani

I talk about leaving the villa. “Enough, a posto cosi,” then Sunday comes, the sun still shines and here I am. Something very strange happens when visiting Villa Pisani, shadows soften, Claudio brings coffee, and nothing has changed since the last time I was here.

Today I found new shadows, a little closer to the rose garden. In front of me the lemon trees stretch out across the gravel. Where house and garden meet the vines on the pergola are coming back to life. For the vines, as for everything, this is too late. I am Pip sitting at Miss Havisham’s wedding feast. For humans it feels as if the party is over, however we are still hanging on, hoping to go gentle into this goodnight.