Telenovela 1

I don't spit on the plate where I eat,
the son without steady work says
to his worried father in a long-running
soap opera, an Italian proverb
that sends me to the internet.
They drink wine on their patio
off the Bay of Naples.

I was on another patio yesterday—a restaurant
off Arthur Avenue. A woman with a Bronx
accent was so loud we decided to move
inside, where Andrea Bocelli was singing
"Con te partirò" on the mixtape.
In Puglia, I heard this song during a church service,
loved it so much, I emailed the priest to ask
what song it was, carefully checking
that my Italian was correct. He never responded.
Silly American, to email a priest
about a pop song of loss and goodbyes.
Leaving our patio seats started a movement.
The tables emptied out. Everyone then enjoyed
their wine in the air conditioning,
listened to Andrea Bocelli,
except for the loudmouth still on the patio.

When Andrea Bocelli sang in front of the Duomo
in Milano, during the lockdown—that video
with all the silenced cities of the world,
Music for Hope, made everyone cry
as if soap were burning their eyes.
We watched the death count going up.

I watch the Italian family,
at the center of the telenovela,
who live in Posillipo, overlooking Vesuvius.
The purses are big and beautiful.
But everyone is so serious. The only one
smiling is the girlfriend
of the married doctor who wants to rid himself
of a stalker wife. The girlfriend likes his new
apartment. Her walk is springy.
Uh oh; she's in love. She hasn't a clue.

Susana H. Case has authored eight books of poetry, most recently The Damage Done (Broadstone Books, 2022), which won her a third Pinnacle Book Achievement Award. Her books have previously also won an IPPY, a NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite award, and she was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Award and the International Book Awards. She co-edited, with Margo Taft Stever, the anthology I Wanna Be Loved by You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe (Milk and Cake Press, 2022). A retired university professor in NYC, Case is currently is a co-editor of Slapering Hol Press. http://www.susanahcase.com/