Partial Obstruction

Four Frenchmen
in a Fiat fractured
the front of a frieze
facing Florence Cathedral.

Stupid consonant clusters
crowding each other, bragging like teens
and gawking like tourists
perennially popping pictures.
See what I mean!

And now two Turkish tourists
plow into a Pagini parked
parallel to Saint Peter’s Basillaca.
There they go again!
What will it take to stop them!

Fortunately, a shop owner ushers everyone inside
and serves cappuccino, offering a selection
of mostacciolis, struffolis, baci di damas
and ossi dei morti biscottis.

Suddenly, everyone speaks Italian
and sits on the rim of their coffee cup
splashing their toes in the dark,
savory roast, saying grazie molto.

John Cullen’s work has appeared in journals such as The MacGuffin, Grist, Streetlight Magazine and the American Journal of Poetry. His chapbook TOWN CRAZY won the 2013 Slipstream Press award.

Featured image: Espresso Lungo e Biscotti by Kalle Gustafsson. CC license.