Page 1 of 1

inetto

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 12:47 am
by constantine
come, let us follow the poet
on his day's journey.
I'm sure he won't mind, as
he thrives on the attention
given by his contemporaries, observe
the maestro as he sits in contemplation,
a lively intellect, engaged
by the seemingly trivial, his faculties
through rigorous mental calisthenics
honed like the tip of the rapier, about
to dissect, examine, re-examine--
the ordinary blossoms with his
kaleidoscopic vision, he thirsts
pours iced water from the carafe,
he ponders the evolution of indoor plumbing
that noble gift of the Romans, of which
he is greatly enamored,
the aquaduct--the Pont Du Gard,
after a milennium still functional.
ahh, the skill of these artisans... but wait
there's more, his restless intellect embraces
even the microscopic, the protozoa
that swim, ceaselessly meandering
within his glass, the varieties--
their inter-relationships,
the amoeba and paramecium,
rotifers, whose spiraling cilia
are the very essence of consumerism,
their sexual habits, proclivities, and desires--
such as they may be,
distract as they titillate, he wonders
why the glass is half full and departs.

onward, the street beckons--
the theatre of life,
he is a bella figura, ever cognizant
of his responsiblities to himself,
it is not enough that he knows, they
must know that he knows,
in the grand tradition of sprezzatura
he enters the arena like a bullfighter
aware of the eyes upon him, aware
of each nuance and affectation,
he plays the role fate has dealt like a Stradivarius!
he senses an air of turbulence rippling across the piazza...
La Contessa!
at last, the perfect object for his attentions -
worthy of his powers of seduction.
he familiarizes himself with the nature of the prey.
he notes her habits, her predilections-
her itinerary is a matter of public record.
he frequents her favorite cafe,
at the bookstore - he is there!
he offers the suggestion of a smile
as their eyes meet, poor child
she is his and she knows it.

How shall I describe his method, his technique?
If it could be bottled, well...
dream on my friends,
it's a matter of breeding that money cannot buy,
indeed, it is more likely to corrupt
in some inverted, rococo-like
nouveau riche display that is antithetical
to his natural sense of savoir faire.

La Contessa reclines in her boudoir
like one of Botticelli's visions, he enters
and spies himself in the mirror
with unaffected elegance and elan
(again la sprezzatura!)
he disrobes, casually
casting off his accoutrements
as if the leaves of autumn,
La Contessa waits like an oyster's pearl
her skin translucent, glistening
with the sweat of anticipatory desire.
he snorts with the passion of a stallion
as her little dog foo-foo
bites his exposed posterior -
the empire has fallen

Posted: August 18th, 2008, 6:52 pm
by Perdida
oh man, this is GREAT! especially loved the second and the last stanzas. Descriptive, vivid and expectant. Loved it constantine, and your use of some italian words/phrases.

you're de pleasure to read.
:D

Posted: August 18th, 2008, 7:07 pm
by constantine
thank you perdida. i'm glad that you enjoyed it. i had fun writing it.

Posted: August 18th, 2008, 7:38 pm
by Lightning Rod
You're Pounding on me again, dino

nice read

reminds me of one of my favorite Whitman poems

-----
Now List To My Morning's Romanza
Whitman


NOW list to my morning's romanza--I tell the signs of the Answerer;
To the cities and farms I sing, as they spread in the sunshine before
me.

A young man comes to me bearing a message from his brother;
How shall the young man know the whether and when of his brother?
Tell him to send me the signs.

And I stand before the young man face to face, and take his right
hand in my left hand, and his left hand in my right hand,
And I answer for his brother, and for men, and I answer for him that
answers for all, and send these signs.


Him all wait for--him all yield up to--his word is decisive and
final,
Him they accept, in him lave, in him perceive themselves, as amid
light,
Him they immerse, and he immerses them. 10

Beautiful women, the haughtiest nations, laws, the landscape, people,
animals,
The profound earth and its attributes, and the unquiet ocean, (so
tell I my morning's romanza;)
All enjoyments and properties, and money, and whatever money will
buy,
The best farms--others toiling and planting, and he unavoidably
reaps,
The noblest and costliest cities--others grading and building, and he
domiciles there;
Nothing for any one, but what is for him--near and far are for him,
the ships in the offing,
The perpetual shows and marches on land, are for him, if they are for
any body.

He puts things in their attitudes;
He puts to-day out of himself, with plasticity and love;
He places his own city, times, reminiscences, parents, brothers and
sisters, associations, employment, politics, so that the rest
never shame them afterward, nor assume to command them. 20

He is the answerer:
What can be answer'd he answers--and what cannot be answer'd, he
shows how it cannot be answer'd.


A man is a summons and challenge;
(It is vain to skulk--Do you hear that mocking and laughter? Do you
hear the ironical echoes?)

Books, friendships, philosophers, priests, action, pleasure, pride,
beat up and down, seeking to give satisfaction;
He indicates the satisfaction, and indicates them that beat up and
down also.

Whichever the sex, whatever the season or place, he may go freshly
and gently and safely, by day or by night;
He has the pass-key of hearts--to him the response of the prying of
hands on the knobs.

His welcome is universal--the flow of beauty is not more welcome or
universal than he is;
The person he favors by day, or sleeps with at night, is blessed. 30


Every existence has its idiom--everything has an idiom and tongue;
He resolves all tongues into his own, and bestows it upon men, and
any man translates, and any man translates himself also;
One part does not counteract another part--he is the joiner--he sees
how they join.

He says indifferently and alike, How are you, friend? to the
President at his levee,
And he says, Good-day, my brother! to Cudge that hoes in the sugar-
field,
And both understand him, and know that his speech is right.

He walks with perfect ease in the Capitol,
He walks among the Congress, and one Representative says to another,
Here is our equal, appearing and new.

Then the mechanics take him for a mechanic,
And the soldiers suppose him to be a soldier, and the sailors that he
has follow'd the sea, 40
And the authors take him for an author, and the artists for an
artist,
And the laborers perceive he could labor with them and love them;
No matter what the work is, that he is the one to follow it, or has
follow'd it,
No matter what the nation, that he might find his brothers and
sisters there.

The English believe he comes of their English stock,
A Jew to the Jew he seems--a Russ to the Russ--usual and near,
removed from none.

Whoever he looks at in the traveler's coffee-house claims him,
The Italian or Frenchman is sure, and the German is sure, and the
Spaniard is sure, and the island Cuban is sure;
The engineer, the deck-hand on the great lakes, or on the
Mississippi, or St. Lawrence, or Sacramento, or Hudson, or
Paumanok Sound, claims him.

The gentleman of perfect blood acknowledges his perfect blood; 50
The insulter, the prostitute, the angry person, the beggar, see
themselves in the ways of him--he strangely transmutes them,
They are not vile any more--they hardly know themselves, they are so
grown.

Posted: August 18th, 2008, 7:46 pm
by constantine
whitman kills me. he's still fresh. thanks clay.

Posted: August 18th, 2008, 7:52 pm
by Lightning Rod
dino, I think that this quote might be just an excerpt from Song of the Answerer

I can't determine if he did that himself or if someone else did it
still beautiful words

Posted: August 18th, 2008, 8:41 pm
by Arcadia
it´s like seeing an italian film with a somehow french angle, laud sounds & domino-jonic-columns somewhere constantine!!!!! I liked it!!!!! :D

Posted: August 18th, 2008, 9:08 pm
by constantine
i got the idea reading a study on the latin lover that focused on the career of marcello mastroianni. i think the author is j. reich. she deals with gender roles in mediterranean cultures. thank you, veronique!

Posted: August 19th, 2008, 8:58 pm
by Arcadia
in his memories Mastroianni wonder what the woman see in him with a funny description of himself (too thin legs, too short roman nose, -he also said something about his hands but I don´t remember what exactly-... :lol: ). Interesting reading!

mmm.... & veronique! (I guess I was in a serious risk to have Simone as a second name but now it sounds more Kieslowski-like for me!!! :wink: )

Posted: August 19th, 2008, 9:30 pm
by constantine
fellini told him that he had a plastic face; marcello was not too happy about it. but fellini was right - his face is one you can read into, one that is unassuming and can take on many characterizations. fellini was paying him a compliment - in a jabbing manner. i will read his memoirs - i'm a huge fan. on other sites, i use his photos sometimes for my avatar. i've got 5 or 6 of them.

Posted: August 19th, 2008, 9:59 pm
by goldenmyst
You write with cultured authority and vocabulary. The poem builds with magnificent impending till the humorous end. Another gem.

John

Posted: August 20th, 2008, 7:08 pm
by constantine
thank you john.

Posted: August 24th, 2008, 1:20 pm
by Nazz
Now that is one punk-rock ending to the empire or two which typically rise and fall during the course of a day. Rock on, Dino!

Posted: August 30th, 2008, 3:00 am
by hester_prynne
This is truly a delightful devilish read.. fanciful humorous, and it has a sexy gait to it too!
Glad I got to read this
H 8)