Sizzle 100 x 70 cm - acrylic, ink, oil pastel on paper
FOLLY, IN PRAISE THEREOF
Everything is folly but folly itself
said Leopardi. Like the time
we were unembarrassedly
hauled up the slopes of Everest
by grunting Sherpas. Being led
by a courtesan/tourist guide
into the antique shadows of a Naples slum
was a trip, took us way back in time, but what if
what if Byron hadn’t swum
the Hellespont, hadn’t been bitten by a malarial insect
in defense of Greek liberty? And what if
the commander of the 101st Airborne hadn’t admonished
the Germans surrounding Bastogne to more or less
fuck off when they demanded that he give up?
Sloppy Suzy loading up a borrowed pickup for one
more midnight move, process servers, neighbors, a lover’s last grasp
evaded, eluded, escaped, whatever
damn she’s pretty, isn’t she, eating red licorice for breakfast.
