….
The Pines of Rome
Ungaretti is the waiter in the modern suit
that has gone out of style. Saba’s father
sits forlorn at the next table, staring
at his polenta. Montale is known to sing,
but only if Harold asks nicely.
The food is inelegant but substantial.
The specials on the menu are longer
than one of Harold’s lectures—too long
to read, so that you must visit many times
and memorize them, stanza by stanza,
or just tell Ungaretti one verse you like,
a section you know by heart.
Ungaretti earns good tips from our table
and will bring, on the house, espresso
and rum cake after Harold’s branzino.
The silverware and dishes come
from a going-out-of-business sale
that’s still ongoing.
The walls have photos of Rome
and celebrities you cannot place.
Our dedicated space, our Temple,
is a stepdown in the lower-reserved section.
Harold’s face is flush from wine.
The words pour from him
as from the snout of the yellow,
fish-shaped pitcher Ungaretti brings.
An extra carafe costs you an extra hour.
…..
This poem is from the book Shadows of the Pines (Finishing Line Press), and is available at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/shadows-of-the-pines-by-sheppard-ranbom/
Shadows of the Pines, a comic novella in verse, introduces readers to Harold Rava, a poet who teaches poetry in a storefront juku during the day and in a rundown restaurant, the Pines of Rome, at night. Leading the franchise is a struggle for Harold. There is no money in poetry. The audience is roughly the size of the number of practitioners. But the subversive Rava School—which teaches students to make what Gerard Manley Hopkins called “great strokes of havoc”—could change all that. Unfortunately, the school’s mission—creating an audience of millions of enthusiasts, one person a time—is beyond its grasp. To be successful. Harold must get the help of his teachers, the ghosts of poets and thinkers—Auden, Borges, Buber, Montale, Saba, J.B. Yeats, and others—who visit him each night at the Pines, And he must learn to better treat the words he writes, who rebel against him. Harold ultimately recognizes that it will not be the United States but Albania where poetry will flourish. Readers unfamiliar with poetry can simply enjoy the ride and be taken by the book’s rhythm and riddles, its characters and comedy, for it is all Dreamland, a poetic narrative where anyone can enter.
Sheppard Ranbom is a poet based in Washington, DC where he lives with his wife, Mary-Mack Callahan. He is the author of King Philip’s War, I Didn’t Know Kyoto, and Shadows of the Pines. https://www.sheppardranbom.com
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