Gleaming in the sunlight,

Assissi lay hugging the west incline

Of Monte Subasio in Umbria-

A fortress, a refuge, a goal

For seekers of self and soul.

The barefooted mendicant

Blessed the medieval cobblestones

That paved the the narrow streets,

Meandering up and down, skirting

Around homes and stores.

There Francis spoke,

Embracing a larger world,

To the sun and the moon,

The birds and the beasts

And all creation

That trod across the planet.

Assissi proudly witnessed a love,

Brotherly and sisterly,

Without constraints and restraints

Of highs and lows, 

The rich and the poor,

Enveloping and embracing

All of humanity.