Viticulture

Tom growls about a misheard

Billy Jo Remarkable,

who might be a redneck gangster,

while I look out at serried vines

on the steep valley sides

and take joy in

incongruent serendipity.

Because the book

- there’s always reading too -

is Somerset Maugham:

dense and different prose

from before

the televisual-

instant-internet

too-long-did-not-read

age.

The culture clashes

are inside,

and outside

on streets

and in the minds

of spectators,

if not the activists

on either side.

Tom finishes the song.

I hear Philly Joe correctly

and remember the title

is Heartattack and Vine.