Welcome to Our

25th Year of Publication

October 2024

Firenze

Patrick Walsh | Scene4 Magazine

Patrick Walsh

That year it was Florence and Tuscany

and we had the best bistecca anyone could remember,

better than Luger's, better than Delmonico's,

better than anything out of Texas,

and the Tuscan wine was the color

of well-oxygenated blood

and we drank quite a lot of it.

One day I went for a run along the Arno

and the river troubled me —

the rush of the river, the water's anger —

anyway, the Arno troubled me.

It was March and snowmelt from the Alps

made it one big nasty torrent;

where the current roiled, the churned wash

had a rusty orange hue, probably

from some sediment particular to the Arno.

Something about it disturbed me as I did my out-and-back

and I turned around after running through

a very civilized park with bocce courts and nicely

manicured bushes and flowerbeds and there were

old men in their Sunday suits slowly walking

with their hands clasped behind their backs.

When I could see the Ponte Vecchio again

I passed three Carabinieri and they were

all cradling very compact submachine guns

with black foregrips and short black barrels

and they were laughing and looking very carefree

and I thought I'd be pretty carefree too

if I walked around with a compact submachine gun

and I thought it probably isn't a good idea

to try to knock over a liquor store in Florence

and I thought someone must've made a real killing

getting the Carabinieri contract for all those guns.

 

Share This Page

View readers' comments in Letters to the Editor
 

Patrick Walsh | Scene4 Magazine

Patrick Walsh is a writer and poet. After college, he served four years on active duty as an infantry officer in the 25th Infantry Division. He also holds a Master of Philosophy degree in Anglo-Irish literature from Ireland's University of Dublin, Trinity College. His poems and freelance articles have appeared in numerous journals and newspapers in the U.S. and abroad. For more of his columns and other writings, check the Archives.

 

©2024 Patrick Walsh
©2024 Publication Scene4 Magazine

 

 

 

October 2024

  Sections Cover This IssueinFocusinViewinSightPerspectives Special Issues
  Columns Adler Alenier Alpaugh Bettencourt Jones Luce Marcott Walsh 
  Information MastheadYour SupportPrior IssuesSubmissions Archives Books
  Connections Contact UsComments SubscribeAdvertisingPrivacyTerms Letters

|  Search Issue | Search Archives | Share Page |

Scene4 (ISSN 1932-3603), published monthly by Scene4 Magazine
of Arts and Culture. Copyright © 2000-2024 Aviar-Dka Ltd – Aviar Media Llc.

Thai Airways at Scene4 Magazine