Poem: "My Coffee with Cream, My Literature with Optimism"
This poem came out of the March 17, 2020 bonus fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
redsixwing and readera. It also fills the "Coffee" square in my 3-1-20 card for the Food Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. It belongs to the Marionettes thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
"My Coffee with Cream, My Literature with Optimism"
[Tuesday, February 12, 2013]
Como and Rialta haven't grown up
in Venice, but they have moved
there to manage the water.
The city has been sinking
for centuries, and now the sea
is rising with climate change,
nibbling at the old foundations,
so now it's in real trouble.
Como was a policeman
before he rescued a tourist
from a river and almost drowned,
he developed Water Powers.
Rialta was training to become
a comare when her client's yacht
ran aground. He died, and she
gained superpowers.
Now they watch Venice
to help the rising waters
rinse the canals clean
without wrecking the city.
In places the canals are
so clean that fingerling fish
swim into them from the sea.
Swans float over them and
their feathers stay white.
Today, Coma and Rialta
supervise the acqua alta
in the Piazza San Marco.
The plaza is flooded, wavelets
lapping around tables and chairs,
licking at the base of the pillars --
but the water is crystal, so clear
they can see the white lines
painted on the pavement.
They have brought breakfast
despite the wet conditions.
Rialta drinks her coffee
black with plenty of sugar,
and wrinkles her nose
at Como's creamy cup.
"I still can't believe that you
drink cappucino after noon and
read romantic poetry," Rialta says.
"I like my coffee with cream and
my literature with optimism,"
Como says with a shrug.
The wind picks up, making
the waves dance, so that Como
and Rialta have to work harder
to keep the water in check.
Their fingers touch, strengthening
their powers, and they smile.
They flirt a little as they drink coffee,
testing the boundaries as the water
laps at the edge of the buildings.
They're not together yet ...
... but they're thinking about it.
* * *
Notes:
Rialta (Risa Palmisano) -- She has olive skin, brown eyes, and long straight black hair. She is short and slim, very limber. Risa grew up in Bari, Puglia. She belonged to the Marionettes and originally intended to work as a comare. After she gained Water Powers, Rialta was invited to move to Venice and manage the water there, in concert with the policeman Como. They have their challenges but are learning to work together and even tentatively like each other. Rialta has a strong sweet tooth and drinks her coffee black with lots of sugar.
Origin: She was in training to become a comare, attending to a client on his yacht, when he ran it aground. He drowned; she developed superpowers.
Uniform: She wears comfortable women's clothes, often in shades of gray and black accented with deep winter colors.
Qualities: Good (+2) Emotional Intelligence, Good (+2) Limber, Good (+2) Mobster, Good (+2) Observant, Good (+2) Sexy
Poor (-2) Sensitive to Cold
Powers: Good (+2) Water Powers
Motivation: To protect Venice.
Como (Marcantonio Merlo) -- He has olive skin, brown eyes, and brown hair buzzed short with a mustache and beard. He is tall and sturdy. Marcantonio grew up in Genoa, Liguria, Italy. He worked there for years as a policeman. Unlike most of his peers, he has a relaxed and casual attitude. After he gained Water Powers, Como was invited to move to Venice and manage the water there, in concert with the mobster Rialta. They have their challenges but are learning to work together and even tentatively like each other. Como craves fat and drinks his coffee with cream, even after noon.
Origin: He was rescuing a tourist from drowning in a river when the water swept him away. He almost died, but after he washed up on the bank, he developed superpowers.
Uniform: He favors comfortable menswear in warm earth tones like brown and ivory.
Qualities: Good (+2) Cop, Good (+2) Kinesthetic Intelligence, Good (+2) Observant, Good (+2) Relaxing Good (+2) Tall
Poor (-2)
Powers: Good (+2) Water Powers
Motivation: To protect Venice.
According to Italian custom, I am violating an Italian taboo: It's afternoon and cappuccino is considered a breakfast beverage never, ever to be consumed after late morning.
Elizabeth Minchilli — an American who writes about Italian food, wine and culture — says this unwritten law derives from a national obsession with digestion.
"I don't think after a meal you would have a warm cup of milk," she says. Echoing the Italian coffee mantra, she says, "it's pesante, it's heavy!"
Venice: acqua alta in the Piazza San Marco.
* * *
"I like my coffee with cream and my literature with optimism."
-- Abigail Reynolds, In Pemberley by the Sea
See pictures and videos of fish in the Venice canals. Here are the swans.
Acqua alta (/ˌækwə ˈæltə/,[1] Italian: [ˈakkwa ˈalta] ( listen); lit. "high water") is the term used in Veneto for the exceptional tide peaks that occur periodically in the northern Adriatic Sea. The peaks reach their maximum in the Venetian Lagoon, where they cause partial flooding of Venice and Chioggia; flooding also occurs elsewhere around the northern Adriatic, for instance at Grado and Trieste, but much less often and to a lesser degree.
143 cm on February 12, 2013
redsixwing and readera. It also fills the "Coffee" square in my 3-1-20 card for the Food Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. It belongs to the Marionettes thread of the Polychrome Heroics series."My Coffee with Cream, My Literature with Optimism"
[Tuesday, February 12, 2013]
Como and Rialta haven't grown up
in Venice, but they have moved
there to manage the water.
The city has been sinking
for centuries, and now the sea
is rising with climate change,
nibbling at the old foundations,
so now it's in real trouble.
Como was a policeman
before he rescued a tourist
from a river and almost drowned,
he developed Water Powers.
Rialta was training to become
a comare when her client's yacht
ran aground. He died, and she
gained superpowers.
Now they watch Venice
to help the rising waters
rinse the canals clean
without wrecking the city.
In places the canals are
so clean that fingerling fish
swim into them from the sea.
Swans float over them and
their feathers stay white.
Today, Coma and Rialta
supervise the acqua alta
in the Piazza San Marco.
The plaza is flooded, wavelets
lapping around tables and chairs,
licking at the base of the pillars --
but the water is crystal, so clear
they can see the white lines
painted on the pavement.
They have brought breakfast
despite the wet conditions.
Rialta drinks her coffee
black with plenty of sugar,
and wrinkles her nose
at Como's creamy cup.
"I still can't believe that you
drink cappucino after noon and
read romantic poetry," Rialta says.
"I like my coffee with cream and
my literature with optimism,"
Como says with a shrug.
The wind picks up, making
the waves dance, so that Como
and Rialta have to work harder
to keep the water in check.
Their fingers touch, strengthening
their powers, and they smile.
They flirt a little as they drink coffee,
testing the boundaries as the water
laps at the edge of the buildings.
They're not together yet ...
... but they're thinking about it.
* * *
Notes:
Rialta (Risa Palmisano) -- She has olive skin, brown eyes, and long straight black hair. She is short and slim, very limber. Risa grew up in Bari, Puglia. She belonged to the Marionettes and originally intended to work as a comare. After she gained Water Powers, Rialta was invited to move to Venice and manage the water there, in concert with the policeman Como. They have their challenges but are learning to work together and even tentatively like each other. Rialta has a strong sweet tooth and drinks her coffee black with lots of sugar.
Origin: She was in training to become a comare, attending to a client on his yacht, when he ran it aground. He drowned; she developed superpowers.
Uniform: She wears comfortable women's clothes, often in shades of gray and black accented with deep winter colors.
Qualities: Good (+2) Emotional Intelligence, Good (+2) Limber, Good (+2) Mobster, Good (+2) Observant, Good (+2) Sexy
Poor (-2) Sensitive to Cold
Powers: Good (+2) Water Powers
Motivation: To protect Venice.
Como (Marcantonio Merlo) -- He has olive skin, brown eyes, and brown hair buzzed short with a mustache and beard. He is tall and sturdy. Marcantonio grew up in Genoa, Liguria, Italy. He worked there for years as a policeman. Unlike most of his peers, he has a relaxed and casual attitude. After he gained Water Powers, Como was invited to move to Venice and manage the water there, in concert with the mobster Rialta. They have their challenges but are learning to work together and even tentatively like each other. Como craves fat and drinks his coffee with cream, even after noon.
Origin: He was rescuing a tourist from drowning in a river when the water swept him away. He almost died, but after he washed up on the bank, he developed superpowers.
Uniform: He favors comfortable menswear in warm earth tones like brown and ivory.
Qualities: Good (+2) Cop, Good (+2) Kinesthetic Intelligence, Good (+2) Observant, Good (+2) Relaxing Good (+2) Tall
Poor (-2)
Powers: Good (+2) Water Powers
Motivation: To protect Venice.
According to Italian custom, I am violating an Italian taboo: It's afternoon and cappuccino is considered a breakfast beverage never, ever to be consumed after late morning.
Elizabeth Minchilli — an American who writes about Italian food, wine and culture — says this unwritten law derives from a national obsession with digestion.
"I don't think after a meal you would have a warm cup of milk," she says. Echoing the Italian coffee mantra, she says, "it's pesante, it's heavy!"
Venice: acqua alta in the Piazza San Marco.
* * *
"I like my coffee with cream and my literature with optimism."
-- Abigail Reynolds, In Pemberley by the Sea
See pictures and videos of fish in the Venice canals. Here are the swans.
Acqua alta (/ˌækwə ˈæltə/,[1] Italian: [ˈakkwa ˈalta] ( listen); lit. "high water") is the term used in Veneto for the exceptional tide peaks that occur periodically in the northern Adriatic Sea. The peaks reach their maximum in the Venetian Lagoon, where they cause partial flooding of Venice and Chioggia; flooding also occurs elsewhere around the northern Adriatic, for instance at Grado and Trieste, but much less often and to a lesser degree.
143 cm on February 12, 2013