JOHN IRVING CLARKE
Let us go back to Piazza
One day let us go back to Piazza
where sun peers through mist
and its brazen ascent
is tolled by bells.
One day let us go back to Piazza
where racing boys gleam
their bikes against walls and young girls
plot and giggle and scheme.
One day let us go back to Piazza
where the chimney stacks totter
on pantile rooves
and jackdaws clack and scatter.
Let us sit at the pavement caffè
and from silver spoons
take tiny sips of gelato.
Listen to the blow fiato della mongolfiera
of the hot air balloon
breaching blue.
Amongst the spray, children caught in dance,
the couples on cobbles take their chance
and the one-armed clock is counting down.
One day, my dear
let us go back to Piazza.
Written on the occasion of the poet’s visit to Mondovì in October 2016. See Life’s Ondulazioni
Photos: Bruna Bonino