Portia In Florence Poem by Terry Collett

We were in
the Santa Croce
in Florence.

My mother
was talking
as she often did
about the process of things
and how
the capitalist system
would come to an end.

I switched off
and noticed Odette
walking nearby
one of the chapels.

She was alone
her cousin
must have been
elsewhere(thank God) .

She saw me
and blushed
but walked
towards us
in her white blouse
and blue jeans.

My mother paused
her Marxist talk
and asked Odette
how she was
and where
her cousin was.

Odette said
her cousin was with
the novelist
who was staying
at the same pension
as we were
and who talked
endlessly
about her books
and her plot
for her new book
set in Florence.

I noticed
Odette's breasts
pushing
against the cloth
of her white blouse
and how her eyes
seemed to light up
when our eyes met.

My mother began
her lecture
on Italian art
and the corruption
of the Catholic Church.

I wanted my mother
to go elsewhere
so I could be alone
with Odette
and capture
each aspect of her
and never forget.