before we can spec the ground floor studio
the verdict’s been posted by the tween
the view from arthur's point
ain’t worth a million bucks
if you can't catch wifi
for a single insta
in the vale
brutalist realty
for century 21
on routeburn
we meet two nice guys
one before one after
bridal veil falls
brian's been bonding with the universe
telling him to ditch construction
pick up a different brush
represent mount hikurangi
in water and acryllic
he heeds what quiet birds tell
don't ford the river
rain can build
to a point of no return
south island robin puffs up his breast of beige
hopping to greet us as the skies clear
like all his breed
a curious and friendly tom
putting no distance
between us and song
we heed what his lyric signs
while rain lets
retrace our way in double time
imagine the disquiet
when this peace is rent
by guttural shouts
urgent like death rattles
rushing to help
only to find
they were made by
three giggling louts
sometimes it seems
there are only two divergent universes
the one where she can do no right
inhabited by thetans their engrams
and hubbubs over hubbard
the one where she can do no wrong
with tales of madmen
handmaids and shining girls
at the head of lake wakatipu
overcast and clouded
it's nevertheless clear
which one we inhabit
weeks later now
long since returned to humdrum
it still befuddles how
amidst assorted consternations
one apparently manages
a fine night’s sleep
opening the day’s news
i suppose i shouldn’t be surprised
at the persistence of apathy
back in rome
after that tuscan week
we also needed three
on three successive nights
to say goodbye
fully
on the same afternoon i visit both
one famous for angels and martyrs
like so many marys
i’ve encountered this trip
the other where
finally
she takes the win
or as it’s more officially known
Santa Maria Della Vittoria
st mary of the victory
i’m so pleased
at this protean feminism
i forget
to take a picture
upstairs of michelangelo‘s david
only an unnamed painter
dismissed as mediocre
(described barely by association
with influencers Agnolo Gaddi and Lorenzo Monaco
themselves hardly tik tok stars in this academy)
empathises with the needy, the orphans and widows
depicts st yves advocate of the poor
ignoring the fawning rich on his left
dispensing small rights to the under side
roman legions trudged through borgetto the evening before
camping at lake tresimano where the next June dawn
2241 years ago almost to this day
befogged betwixt the mongrel hordes of Hannibal they were
defeated
cyclists traversing lake‘s circuit criss cross this solo walker
and the lone Kress 1200R robot lawnmower tending its grounds
should they wish sight of the 258 borgetto inhabitants
remaining according to the 2001 census they would be
disappointed
later that day massimo of nearby passignano informs that
borgetto lies at the intersection of umbria and tuscany
occupies the communes tuoro, cortona and castiglione
to which when property taxes are due they are paid
trisected
oh dear it’s not
Saint Peter’s basilica
the Santa Maria del Fiore
of flowers in Florence
the Venice San Marco
Assisi Saint Francis
or even the Parma
tailing at tenth
of famous duomos in Italy
the Cortona Cathedral
on republic day is alive
with real worship
as three pews of
neighbourhood youngsters
earnest with their parents
consecrate themselves in
the ceremony of first communion
and one not yet of age
kneels in anticipation
of tomorrow’s grace
Is it your ancient Etruscan walls, melon tombs
monumental funerary altar
tabula cortonensis
strategic control of territorial swathe
I too have my Etruscan necropolis, Roman baths
central position
anchoring Creta senesi, River Osborne
and torrent Copra
weren’t we both then
largely abandoned by history
suborned by wealth subdued by battle
slumbered through a count of centuries
what sly whimsy decreed that you be
favoured destination for spending sprees
while a-straddle the autostrada
i am the one to fade away
Under the Tuscan Sun
antipodal 2011 