Litany In Italy

Genoa Trieste
Napoli Brindisi
Cagliari Salerno
Verona Palermo

Wood and Etruscans
The debris of days
Spent by the Tuscans
In wine-stupored haze

Marble and sunset
With fire in the hole
White diamonds unset
Contrasting with coal

Milano Firenze
Messina Bologna
I broke bread with Dante
And washed with ammonia

Torino e Roma
Livorno e Bari
I came a beachcomber
I left in a hurry

And now I have heard
The town and the city
The old vox urbana
Just fills me with pity