Thursday 30 October 2014

Two songs for Italy, 2014September

September in Senigallia

Studying a map of Italy, recognising so many of the names:
Fiesole, Pavia, Urbisaglia, Canesa in Puglia...
and seeing each name I feel again
the heat of summer sun on my glad skin
or the golden sunset on the sandstone buildings
that curve with the slow river towards the sea
(that's Senigallia)
And I strain to bring together
this paper on my knee
and the bright memories.
My husband likes maps: they tell him things like
which direction he should go
Anyway, he always works out where North is...
But I remember the thin bricks in the sixteenth-century walls
and the colour of the plaster or the painted shutters
and where the sun is setting


30 October 2014

Eating in Italy...

The lentils were lovely: almost, you might say,
cooked to perfection
with onion and garlic in fresh olive oil
seasoned with bay leaves and parsley.
The leeks had been steamed;
they were young, slim and tender
resembling their cousins in Turkey
[see elsewhere for "leeks from the Turkish west coast"]
(today's were from Puglia).
For colour, there were oval tomatoes
(small and tangy)
and all placed on a bed of brown lentils
bathed in warm oil
Ah Epicurus, how we appreciate
your take on life...

No comments:

Post a Comment