fernet!

[constantine]

listless?
caught in the doldrums?
the horse latitudes of a debased afternoon?
nonsenso!!
try fernet branca
invigorating - soothing!
its restorative power is not to be sneezed at
fernet! preferred by the cognoscenti
tonic of choice for inettos and flaneurs
just don't stand there like a dreary idiot
ask for fernet!
and tell them constantino sent you
once i was just like you, stupefied and torpid
i would just sit there and wonder why
stupefying in my own torpiditude
no motivation - no, none at all
my wife would slap me in the face, back and forth, to and fro
in a noble, yet vain attempt to instill some sort of joie de vivre -
some gusto, into my dismal and declining spirits
but i would have nothing of it
i was quite prepared and satisfied to fritter away
countless hours laying on the sofa
scratching my belly like an animal
LIKE A FUCKING ANIMAL!
but, then fernet-branca entered my life
vroom vroom! new man out of old!
i left my wife and traveled to roma -
the eternal city of cultured decadence
i became a habitue of the cafe society
the via veneto was ok by me
sultry affairs with gina and julietta
moonlit nights traipsing in the treve fountain
and caterwauling on the spanish steps
it was at the baths of caracalla that i first saw her
with a bottle of fernet-branca clutched to her ample bosom
caressing it as if it was her long lost bambino
i snatched the bottle from her like a gypsy thief in the night
through the catacombs i wandered
swigging gulps of fernet and ready for whatever!
i remember my papa - saying,
easy my son, fernet
but only in moderation
i love my papa, but i was like a man possessed
what am i saying - i was a man possessed
with vim and vigor,
with auctoritas, gravitas, and a little imperium tossed in as well
but don't take my word for it - try it for yourself and see
the restorative wonder of... fernet!

[judih]

where do i send my credit card #?

[constantine]

i'm working on getting the north american franchise - if i do, you're in!