A STROLL AMONG THE RUINS

Among the ruins of the Agora
I think of my mother, seldom leaving
the small dark apartment she called home.

Grecian sun beats down on graceful columns.
Grass grows between the cracks of stone pathways.
Ancient echoes still linger on the breeze
here in this beating heart of city life.

These crowded streets gave birth to a new word. 
Agoraphobia, fear of the marketplace, 
The fear that kept her in that lonely room.

Gloria Heffernan is the author of four poetry collections, most recently Fused (Shanti Arts Publishing). Her craft book, Exploring Poetry of Presence (Back Porch Productions) won the CNY Book Award for Nonfiction. She received the 2022 Naugatuck River Review Narrative Poetry Prize. Gloria is the author of the collections Peregrinatio: Poems for Antarctica (Kelsay Books), and What the Gratitude List Said to the Bucket List, (New York Quarterly Books).  Her forthcoming collection, Moments of Color and Cloud will be published by Shanti Arts in 2026. To learn more, visit: http://www.gloriaheffernan.wordpress.com.