Capri (Uno Momento Silenzio) Poem by Geoffrey Fafard

Capri-What should I say?
What will I say
Expensive, Italian indulgence
Out there, in there
Soaked in its reputation
Hanging by its nails
Flowers, colours, gelato ci gelato
Topless taxis, topless girls
Crowds
The Italian playground absolute
'Don't eat the streaky bacon'
Said the man at breakfast
who had had the heart attack
Whilst next to him a lady
With a pretty face
Looks at me
Staring, looking, sighing
Sadder than a lost moment
In a dream she wished
To keep
-
The shopping…Ah the shopping
That they told me
I needed to do
But alas I didn't
In the streets of Capri
That are a little tired
The plastic trees
A little tired
Me a little tired
Nearing my last days
Of Italy
-
Ah Capri…My cup of tea?
My aperitif, my prosecco?
It has been here Capri a long time
Waiting for me to come
And it is not its fault
That I have left it this long
It has faded at the edges
Waiting

-
EPITAPH
I saw a seagull floating dead
Along the seawall way
And I felt pangs of sadness
On this bright blue sunny day
A young boy swam on the sea
And passed my way at play
He swam head first into the bird
And had an oath or two to lay
He gasped I gasped, for a first time in its history
The seagull of Capri had short of nought to say