Poem: "Qui Gatta Ci Cova"
This poem was the linkback perk for the August 4, 2015 Poetry Fishbowl, originally hosted by Dreamwidth user Dialecticdreamer. It was inspired by a prompt from DW user Technoshaman. It also fills the "It will be a Terrible Scandal" square in my 6-1-14 card for the Genprompt Bingo fest. This poem belongs to the series Fiorenza the Wisewoman.
"Qui Gatta Ci Cova"
It all might have gone unremarked
had not Otoniel the merchant
slammed his door more-or-less on purpose
upon the tail of Marchesa Micia the cat.
From that moment, she was everywhere about
but always just outside of his reach,
no matter how he tried to shoo her away.
"Fiorenza, your cat is getting in my way!"
Otoniel complained to the wisewoman.
Fiorenza gave him a bland look.
"Have you asked her to move?"
"I am a respectable businessman,"
Otoniel protested. "I do not speak to cats."
"No wonder she's so vexed with you, then,"
Fiorenza said as she mashed basil into pesto.
"You should try apologizing."
But Otoniel did not apologize to Micia,
and so their enmity continued.
Not long after that, the merchant came back
and beat his fist against Fiorenza's door.
"Your cat has ruined my marriage!" he roared.
"She told my wife that I fornicated with a pilgrim."
"Well, did you?" Fiorenza asked.
Otoniel's second wife was no longer
the pretty young thing he had married
after the death of Bettina and Bianca's mother.
It was no secret that they were drifting apart.
"That is not the point!" Otoniel said.
"You have got to keep that creature contained,
or else it will be a terrible scandal."
The wisewoman just shrugged.
"We live in a small village, Otoniel.
There's always a terrible scandal somewhere."
* * *
Notes:
something a bit fishy may be going on in English but Italian speakers would say there’s a cat lying in wait around here somewhere (qui gatta ci cova);
-- Oxford Dictionaries
[To be continued ...]
"Qui Gatta Ci Cova"
It all might have gone unremarked
had not Otoniel the merchant
slammed his door more-or-less on purpose
upon the tail of Marchesa Micia the cat.
From that moment, she was everywhere about
but always just outside of his reach,
no matter how he tried to shoo her away.
"Fiorenza, your cat is getting in my way!"
Otoniel complained to the wisewoman.
Fiorenza gave him a bland look.
"Have you asked her to move?"
"I am a respectable businessman,"
Otoniel protested. "I do not speak to cats."
"No wonder she's so vexed with you, then,"
Fiorenza said as she mashed basil into pesto.
"You should try apologizing."
But Otoniel did not apologize to Micia,
and so their enmity continued.
Not long after that, the merchant came back
and beat his fist against Fiorenza's door.
"Your cat has ruined my marriage!" he roared.
"She told my wife that I fornicated with a pilgrim."
"Well, did you?" Fiorenza asked.
Otoniel's second wife was no longer
the pretty young thing he had married
after the death of Bettina and Bianca's mother.
It was no secret that they were drifting apart.
"That is not the point!" Otoniel said.
"You have got to keep that creature contained,
or else it will be a terrible scandal."
The wisewoman just shrugged.
"We live in a small village, Otoniel.
There's always a terrible scandal somewhere."
* * *
Notes:
something a bit fishy may be going on in English but Italian speakers would say there’s a cat lying in wait around here somewhere (qui gatta ci cova);
-- Oxford Dictionaries
[To be continued ...]