ITALY (Remove filter)
Six Nations Time
Six Nations wake from slumber
As winter turns to Spring
For tribal warfare on the pitch
It’s a Celts and Saxons thing
They’ll be singing hymns and arias
From the Tiber to the Tay
And the week feels that much longer
As we wait for Saturday
And the squads are called together
From places far and wide
There will be sunshine and foul weather
There will be shir...
Sunday 21st January 2024 12:42 pm
HOLOGRAPHIC
One time I went to Italy with my school on a skiing trip
We travelled to Dover on a coach then boarded a big white ship
Across the channel we sailed and even stopped off at France
We arrived at grande Aosta. .. to conquer Italian alps
I had pink and purple ski attire all ready for the snow
But my favourite things I took were shoes I couldn't wait to show
The best trainers of my ...
Tuesday 7th March 2023 11:40 pm
ANOLINI
ANOLINI
Anolini – pasta shells stuffed with meat
And cooked in broth, is what we’re eating;
Steam rises from plates but there’s no speaking,
We sip Chianti to moderate the heat
The first to break silence admits defeat;
Parmesan a generous sprinkling,
Grated black pepper our noses crinkling;
Each Christmas a ritual we repeat.
This dish from the mountains of Ital...
Monday 27th November 2017 9:55 pm
Horrible Bliss
Very surely I’ve been remiss
To imagine you, darling, like this!
Oh, the melded hours have cruelly conspired
To strand me in ecstasies of longing—which I so desired!—
To abandon me to oceans of thoughts of your kiss—
It’s a breathless caress, plunged in the shuddering abyss;
Oh, darling, what bitter elation—what horrible bliss!
I’ve made lists which contain nothing but your name!
And of ...
Tuesday 22nd November 2016 4:08 am
Sorrento
I love that they scuff about in sarongs
That their hair is chestnuts and curls
Beads or gold string their necks
And they smell, strong
Of coffee and heat
Their women
Of lemons
Softly baked
Melanzane skin
I love their juggernaut tongue
Unbroken over cards and bambinos
Smoking
All cinnamon eyed
And glitter
They strut taught
Or well met
Farfalle paid gut
I love that only in Italy
Ov...
Sunday 11th September 2016 8:40 pm
SIDOLO
SIDOLO
Spent shell casings everywhere
gleaming in the July sun
bodies of three martyrs lie
victims of a German gun
Italy is crying now
see how fast the tears run.
Three priests in nineteen forty four
slaughtered by the devil’s hand
innocent of all misdeeds
outrage sweeps throughout the land
...Sunday 7th August 2016 10:50 am
MY FATHER'S WATCH
MY FATHER’S WATCH
Almost a year after he died
I’m wearing my father’s watch
Automatic, Swiss, 1947
I looked it up on line
The local old fashioned jeweller
Says it’s a very nice watch
Leave it alone, don’t mess with it
Just wear it all the time
It has old fashioned ways
A turn before bed, another
In the morning and one
Just about midday
Although automatic
It needs the attention
...
Thursday 9th July 2015 11:54 pm
BARDI REVISITED
BARDI REVISITED
The road is better now
Climbing from Fornovo
Leaving behind the river
And the valley’s flatness
It’s surface is smoother
Than the winding track
That stirs my memory
At a certain point
The driver pulls over
Waiting for a colleague
To arrive on the down bus
After they exchange places
Our ascent continues
Towards B...
Sunday 23rd June 2013 4:56 pm
Italia with utube vid link of my gullivers headline gig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4CTUrn3LYg
Italia
Dream of a nation, they built a big airship for Arctic exploration. Things went so well, taking a plethora of readings and photographs till a head wind sprung up. They used most of the fuel battling the wind. Serious technical trouble followed. This would go downhill, fast.
A crash!
Ripping fabric, torn envelope. Sma...
Sunday 14th April 2013 3:13 pm
Ottava Riva - NaPoWriMo Day 8
Another attempt at my paternal tongue.
Un altro tentativo di mia lingua paterna.
And though I beam with pride as I'm learning.
E anche se mi fascio con orgoglio, come sto imparando.
I'm aware that translated, the metre is wrong.
Sono consapevole del fatto che tradotto, lo strumento è sbagliato.
But this language pulsates to my yearning.
Ma questo linguaggio pu...
Monday 8th April 2013 11:31 pm
UN CAFE E UN LIMONCELLO
Un café e un limoncello
A coffee and a limoncello
Dopo il pranzo
After dinner
Un café e un limoncello
I am captivated by ritual
For me food and drink
Have to mean something
Dopo il riso , dopo il vino
Per piacere, please
Un café e un limoncello
After the rice, after the wine
There’s plenty of time
For a ...
Thursday 3rd January 2013 8:26 pm
Rooftops (for Bruno Cordati)
The worst of the front was that trickle of rain
down the neck. Wet through, it felt like liberation.
And lice. Home on leave, people shunned him in trains.
Walled, hilltop village of his childhood:
as another war came, he returned to Barga.
Saw himself as immobile, a tree spreading roots.
When the Germans briefly retook his village
one self-portrait was damaged. The ...
Saturday 21st January 2012 5:51 pm
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