Saturday, March 11, 2017

On remembering Ezio



It is 38 degrees outside
but here in the cool comfort
of my couch
I ponder Leopardi’s
love of his unhappy life
and how sweet it was for him
to founder in his sea of miseries.

I close the book,
mix myself a gin and tonic,
and let my mind, Leopardi-like,
recall those days when
only a ceiling fan moved
the stifling air inside
and the screen doors
kept only some of the
numberless moths and mosquitoes
from invading the house,
and how we would wage
immortal war on them
with our valiant vacuum cleaner.

At the end, claiming moral,
but only moral, victory,
he and I would celebrate
with a gloriously cool gin and tonic.
Those days are gone,
those sweaty, sticky stifling days—
but oh how sweet it is
to sip and remember them!

(Ashcroft, June 28/2015)

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