In medieval times, the Doge of Venice had an annual marriage ceremony...with the sea: throwing a ring into the lagoon to seal the promise. I wonder if this union invited the sea to move in and take possession, as it has. An unearthly city truly, built on the sea: reflective, fickle, changeable, without a substance of its own; illusion, reflection, masks, all slowly dissolving...
I'm actually reminded of a line by Yeats..."like a long-legged fly, my mind moves upon silence..."