PETINNI LOVED THE SUN.

[dadio]

I love the sun, said Petinni,
Amo il sole, he repeated
In Italian; and indeed he did
And sat in the small back garden
In the striped deckchair
With his cap and dark glasses;
Being waited on my his fat wife,
Maria, who brought him cold drinks,
Cold coffee, fruit juices, and as
She did so she sang Puccini arias
To him so that her chins wobbled
As jelly in a dish. Amo il sole, he said,
And when not in his back garden
Was on the beach sitting on some
Other deckchair, his wife beside him
Straining her chair, humming some
Verdi opera tune, and he’d say
Now and then, Maria, go fetch
An ice-cream or go get us a coffees,
And off she’d plod upon the sands,
Beneath the sun, singing Puccini,
Cursing her husband, praising God.