~STANLEY PLUMLY~
"THE MORNING AMERICA CHANGED"
Happened in the
afternoon at Villa
Serbelloni.
Weâd closed up shop
on the work
for the day
and decided to make the
long descent
down
the elegant stone
switchback path
into Bellagio
for coffee and biscotti.
It was
still Tuesday
and a quarter to three and
a good
quarter hour
to the exit gate or if you
stopped
to look
at the snow on the Alps or
at "the
deepest
lake in all of Italy" or
looked
both ways
at once÷as we say
crossing a street÷five,
ten minutes longer. This
day was
longer
because it was especially,
if redundantly,
beautiful, with the snow
shining
and the lake
shining and the big white
boats
shining
with tourists from
Tremezzo and
Varenna.
And the herring gulls and
swallows
at different
layers, shining like mica
in the
mountain rock.
And the terra cotta tiles
of the
village roofs
almost shining, almost
close enough
to touch.
Judith was already in the
pasticceria
and I was looking skyward
on Via
Garibaldi,
the one-way traffic lane
circling
the town,
when I heard the rain in
the distance
breaking
and then her voice through
the window
calling
and then on the tiny
screen inside
pillars of fire pouring
darkly into
clouds.
© by Stanley Plumly
