Florentine Snapshots Poem by Guy Northam

Florentine Snapshots

1.

Across the Arno,
At the Ponte Vecchio,
The scammers and parasites
Ply their trades,
Protected by der Fuhrer.

The sun beats upon my neck,
A fibrous weal against
The tourist traffic,
Their lowing and stamping.

While in the Piazza Santa Maria Novella
Bead-sellers interrupt
A contemplation on the wealth
Of the Church.

Theirs is a gift,
Which must be bought
For a small donation,
Quid pro quo.

Maybe God was wrong:
Let the priests procreate
And turn the masses sterile.
In the marrow, we are all akin.

2.

At the Ristorente Il Davi,
Dr. Agwuebo berates us
On the plight of Nigeria
As we sip birra and spritz.
He is an activist

For only twenty Euros,
Preferably per head.
The world seems afar
And home further

As an Irish couple,
A father and daughter,
Nondescript and
Plainly angelic,

Sell a hard luck story
Of absent friends
And discounted tickets,
Access to the Uffizi, the

Madonnas con bambino,
Florence stultified. We walk
Upon hard ground
Amid thorns and sharp stone.