Work Poems: Italian Melodrama With Fake Sobs Poem by Margaret Alice

Instruction came: “Look up requisition
and order numbers of these claims”
I grabbed my Six Italian Plays and
ran down the passage, while saying
in my best fake Italian accent
(herewith best guess as to meaning) :

È un mio segreto – it is my secret
Mia risoluzione è irrevocabile –
my mind is made up, she said;
“Siete infelice? ” – Are you unhappy?
he asked; … Troppo poco per vivere –
too much to live for, she replied;

The Italian melodrama, delivered
with fake sobs, made me feel alive -
though the heroine wants to drown -
-Ad annergarvi! (sob) – it is wonderful
playing a game all by myself; making
a players passage to Jerry’s office