Amalfi Drive

AMALFI DRIVE

Board the tour bus at the corner bar.
Soon, calm blue sea way below us
Clear across the bay to Salerno.
Hidden behind iron gates, a glimpse of
Villas perched on limestone outcrops.

Off Amalfi, our boat sending up spray,
we now see what previously was hidden.
Blue shuttered villas, small from above
That down here have grown to huge,
Sophia Loren lives in one today.

At Scala,terrace embracing the valley below,
Mamma seats us for our thirteen euro lunch
A litre bottle of wine and home-made pasta.

I climb and climb these steps
I do not reach the vineyard,and,resting,
Pluck basil and rub between my fingers.

In Ravello, I sit in the market place
People-watching with a latte
An hour passes, my neighbour tells me
She's opening a pizza joint in Sri Lanka.

Run for the bus, I'm ten minutes late
Carabinieri and driver enact a drama for us
Honour satisfied, we return the way we came.