Giuseppe Verdi Tuscano Bertilucci
Poetry
Perhaps one day Giuseppe turned left instead of right,
crossed this bridge instead of that,
misread a pharmacopoeia,
bought a glass of wine, did not buy a glass of wine.
Giuseppe Verdi Tuscano Bertilucci
did not do anything particularly great
that we are aware of.
He did not perfect the alchemist stone.
He did not create an exquisite painting technique.
He strode the streets
of Verona unobserved.
He might have come from some bucolic background
and spent his time writing eclogues
that no one read.
He might have worked at a printing press,
a vineyard, a mill, some other smudging job.
He might have been as unique as a sunrise
which today is coming in my window
from a slightly different position
than it did the day before.
Perhaps one day Giuseppe turned left instead of right,
crossed this bridge instead of that,
misread a pharmacopoeia,
bought a glass of wine, did not buy a glass of wine.
And tomorrow
the pitcher of flowers on my table
will cast a slightly different shadow
as the sun rises again
in a slightly different position
from the day before
as it rolls and spins and burns
on its glorious, indifferent way.
- Alan Birkelbach
2005 Texas State Poet Laureate
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