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I Am Not Italian A poem by Billy Collins

#1 User is offline   y66 

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Posted 2017-July-25, 15:18

I Am Not Italian by Billy Collins

I am not Italian, technically speaking,
yet here I am leaning on a zinc bar in Florence
on a sunny weekday morning,
my foot up on the smooth iron railing
just like the other men, who,
it must be said, are officially and fully Italian.

It’s 8:40 and they are off to work,
some in offices, others sweeping the streets,
while I am off to a museum or a church
to see paintings, maybe light a candle in an alcove.
Yet here we all are in our suits and work shirts
joined in the brotherhood of espresso,

or how is it said? La fratellanza dell’espresso,
draining our little white cups
with a quick flourish of the wrist,
each of us tasting the same sweetness of life,
if you take a little sugar, and the bitterness
of its brevity, whether you choose to take sugar or not.
If you lose all hope, you can always find it again -- Richard Ford in The Sportswriter
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#2 User is online   kenberg 

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Posted 2017-July-25, 15:33

I am really glad to see poetry re-emerge on BBF. Although I was wondering what a zinc bar is. I don't know what robots like to drink.
Ken
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#3 User is offline   StevenG 

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Posted 2017-July-26, 02:24

It will all be different after Brexit.
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#4 User is offline   gordontd 

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Posted 2017-July-26, 06:42

View Postkenberg, on 2017-July-25, 15:33, said:

I am really glad to see poetry re-emerge on BBF. Although I was wondering what a zinc bar is. I don't know what robots like to drink.

The French drink "café au zinc" when they stand at the counter, since the counters have zinc tops. Sounds like it's the same for Italians.
Gordon Rainsford
London UK
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#5 User is offline   Winstonm 

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Posted 2017-July-26, 07:15

Italian espresso is delicious - reason in itself to enjoy a 10-minute holiday.
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Black Lives Matter. / "I need ammunition, not a ride." Zelensky
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