how dare they?

today it was raining
perfect sleeping weather
so i got up for breakfast
thinking i would be up and at ’em
but instead went right back to sleep
which was heaven

when i did rise
i was actually rested
which was a first on this trip

i walked down via latina
and onto via di porta latina
one of my favorite streets
flanked by those ancient walls
that always get me dreaming

one of the vehicles that flew by
was a tiny red garbage truck
it stopped just as i was walking by
i have only seen garbage trucks that small
in tokyo and they were pale turquoise blue
anyway….

a woman jumped out in a dark red
jumpsuit with neon-orange safety stripes
her black hair was in a long french braid
and she had a cigarette hanging from
one corner of her mouth

she was wiry, glamourous and tough as nails
she checked a can to see if it was full
and then swung back into her truck
and swerved off

i wanted to ask her if i could take a photo
but i was too shy
she was the toughest thing i had ever seen
like a character from the film, brazil

i walked past the colloseo
always breathtaking
i sometimes imagine that it must be
a mirage
it couldn’t really STILL be standing
could it?

tourists everywhere
i remember that a friend of mine,
born and raised in rome
had never visited the colloseo
and i wondered,
have i seen the NYC tourist attractions?

√empire state building
√circle line cruise
√stock exchange
√central park (this is not only a tourist attraction!)
√times square
√broadway show(s)
√statue of liberty
√the cloisters

what else was there?
there was certainly nothing like the colloseo

surrounding that rotund magnificence are
those stone pine and cypress trees
they are just glorious
i never tire of them
i look forward to the day when
i own a house
and plant those trees in my backyard

the venue was the giardini della cassia del jazz
a stunning place to be able to play music
and the pino trees were in full effect

we got completely eaten by the mosquitos
during soundcheck but survived somehow
with most of our legs in tact

show was lovely
thanks to the wonderful staff and audience
to be able to play for folks sitting on the lawn
with those pines swaying in the background
is something hard to describe

someone who visited the merchandise booth
after the show remarked that we play rome often
and i exclaimed “yes! but of course!!”
he said that rome was too southern for many bands
and i bemoaned the musicians who visit italy
but skip rome (!?)
how dare they?
how could they?
how sad for them.