Stairs to Light by Alan Bern

Stairs to Light was photographed while I was on vacation with my wife in Italy: in the beautiful Umbrian town of Bevagna in the Romanesque church of San Silvestro (1195). We love Romanesque architecture for its weight and simplicity—quiet for welcome mediation. In walking through I noticed the light coming through the windows that were made with staircases enclosed, and I fell in love with both the structure and the light bursting as if the rough stairs lead to something vital and wondrous. There is a lightness to the fact that it is a window, NOT a doorway—this increases my affection for the scene. I photographed with an iPhone 5 back camera 4.12mm f/2.4.

We had originally planned to revisit Bevagna—we had first visited it several decades earlier—in order to see the Roman thermae (baths) with amazing mosaics of marine life, many black-and-white, but all truly fascinating in their detail and liveliness.

And, of course, we finished our visit with delicious local pastries from La Bottega Del Forno Di Polticchia Dorita E C. Sas.

Alan Bern is a retired children’s librarian with three books of poetry: No no the saddest (2004) and Waterwalking in Berkeley (2007) from Fithian Press, and greater distance (2015) from Lines & Faces, his broadside press with artist Robert Woods. Alan won a medal from SouthWest Writers for a short story about WWII and won the 2015 Littoral Press Poetry Prize. Alan has also been shortlisted for a number of poetry and prose awards and has published in a wide variety of online and print publications. Alan performs with dancer/choreographer Lucinda Weaver as PACES: dance & poetry fit to the space, and with musicians from Composing Together. Instagram: @abobern, Facebook: alan.bern.1, Twitter: @AlanBern1, linesandfaces.com.