The Statue (1)
Mimi is there, telling her name,
and Rudolfo
(both have bicycles,
of course).
The music floats across the scene.
“Piange Puccini”
while you survey the square.
The Statue (2)
The stage is set.
Cinquecento palaces
on all four sides.
Mimi appears, singing,
with Rudolfo,
on bicycles, of course.
Center stage,
frozen in his chair,
Puccini weeps.
The sound of the cornet
floats about our heads.
Lari Smith
Lucca 4/95 [Piazza Puccini, where a bronze figure of Puccini sits,on
the closing of the Puccini house and museum]