Reading Matters
Page-turners
I feel dispirited
by the current epidemic.
Chin up, I am told
but it’s academic.
I need some bright reading
to forget about Covid,
so I ignore for the moment
Sophocles and Ovid.
I considered a book
called I Promessi Sposi , ***
a Christmas present
from my Auntie Rosie.
It’s purported to be a story
not of killers or gangsters
but of the troubled love
of two Italian youngsters.
Then, lo and behold,
the novel is not vague
in describing the events
of the Great Milan plague.
It was a literary device
that the author employed
but it was just the topic
that I’d wished to avoid.
It had been a page-turner
and the writing was splendid
but at the mention of pestilence
my interest soon faded.
It was now time to switch
to a more contrasting style
and find some narrative
that could produce a smile.
Bertie Wooster and Jeeves,
of whom Wodehouse wrote,
to this venomous virus
are the right antidote.
© Luigi Pagano 2020
*** The Betrothed
© ionicus 2021
Views: 145
Q. Luigi, no one has commented on this effort of yours and I am sure that it hasn’t self-isolated. Do you reckon that because it mentions Covid they think it might be infectious?
A. Could well be.
Thank you, Luigi.
Don’t mention it. 🙂
made me chuckle when you wrote
I need some bright reading
to forget about Covid,
only to find yourself reading about a plague.
Then, lo and behold,
the novel is not vague
in describing the events
of the Great Milan plague.
most of the time you have an unexpected and humorous twist in your poems.
Glad you noticed.
congratulations on the nib!
Thank you.
an extremely well crafted and topical piece by a master wordsmith.
chuckles all the way through.
And it does seem that new material has dried up apart from a couple of people. Maybe covid has affected the creativity cells- and we don’t know about that!
The usual reason given is “the Muse has deserted me”. 🙂
Congratulation on the Nib, Luigi. Was it a coincidence or did your Aunt select it with deliberation do you think?
Allen
It must have been Fate, Allen. 🙂
Cheers, Luigi
Just the light verse the doctor ordered for the situation we are in, Luigi. I work in the public health field and have been getting ready for this situation all my working life but must admit it has worn thin even for me. Getting ready to work non-stop 6 day work weeks to help out with vaccinations and increased testing.
Thanks for looking in, Ralph. I can appreciate that while the general public might be inconvenienced by this situation, it must be much more difficult for people on the front line.
Best, Luigi