Thirteen and a half

Have you looked across the Sound?
On the other shore life lies.

Can you see it over there?
The palaces, the esplanade?

It only takes a little while to cross,
A year or two at most, sometimes just days.

In clear weather you’ll see boats leaving the marina,
The scarlet awnings of the shops

And fortune-tellers on the steps;
At night there are restaurant lights

And houses glimmering on nameless slopes.