I don't make the rules

Starry nights and

Sunflower fields adorn

The walls of Vlorë

On a winter's morning

When all flowers still hide

From the cold

But the bright February sun

Brings the confidence of

Summer

Strolling down

Boulevard Ismail Qemali

With my jacket open,

The young, the beautiful

The old, the families

Enjoy the sun,

Even when the only flowers

To be found

Are painted on a wall

Beside a Vincent veneration

High-street-art,

Post-post-impressionism.

_

I had a friend

Who refused to spend

Any time on lesser lights -

Unknown artists inspired

By other artists

(As if that does not describe

Every single artist).

'Give me the original,

Or nothing at all'

He'd say and so

Miss everything,

He might have missed

These walls, walked right past

Without seeing, even in

The bright February sun.

_

For mine,

I think you simply have to like

A place

Where even the graffiti

Gives homage to

Van Gogh.