If You Tickle Us... Poem by Dónall Dempsey

The moon intensely listens
to the open air

production of
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
- in Venice

this delicious summer’s night
(hemmed in by houses)

where we discover that

“The quality of mercy
is not
strained...”

as a couple upstairs
come home and proceed to make
long loud passionate love

“...it droppeth like.. “

another couple scream and fight
as windows smash and plates crash

“... the gentle rain from Heaven...”

“Agghhh! ”
“Cazzo in culo! ”

and throws his clothes out
the now broken window

“...upon the earth below...”

as a gondola ghosts by in mist
with an atrocious tourist version of
“O Sole Mio! ”

as another window
lights up
and a telly bellows
a dubbed in gangster shoot out.

“Aggggh!
“Va fa’n ci; p! ”

We are enthralled with
(delighted and enraptured)

not only with
the splendour that is Shakespeare
but
also
with
the real life drama
of this gentle Italian night
and of how we got

our “pound of flesh.”