Joan Leotta

Tasting Lucca

Humming Puccini, we

walk the wide path on top

of Lucca’s circular wall

until we reach the market steps.

I descend to buy red beans, farro,

Parmigiano, tomatoes, pancetta.

In our apartment,

I blend and magnify

flavors with a bit of thyme.

As our soup simmers,

the aroma transports us from

modern Lucca to its days as a

conquered Etruscan outpost of

Rome, soldiers marching

in the old piazza—

sandals slapping on stones

in coordinated stoic rhythm—

likely the local Luccan

battalion heading north

to conquer Gaul for Rome.

Probably fortified by

Lucca’s farro soup,

accompanied, of course,

by warm bread,

Rome’s gift to all its people.

(This poem originally appeared in TIN LUNCHBOX.)

Bio: Joan Leotta has been playing with words on page and stage since childhood. Her written work has been published or is forthcoming in the Washington Post, Hobart Magazine, Peacock Journal, Silver Birch, Pinesong, Algebra of Owls, Sasee, When Women Write, and others. She has performed personal tales and folklore up and down the East Coast in a variety of venues including the Smithsonian Museums, many schools and libraries and various festivals. When she is not traveling, you can find her walking the beach, taking pictures and wrestling seashells from the tide.