JOHNMICHAEL SIMON POETRY

The soprano

in this opera

has a way

with arias

that denies

her proportions

perhaps Verdi’s

conception of

pulchritude

coincided

with Rubens’

the audience

slurping it all

like pizza

the Prima Donna

in Rigoletto

wriggling into

her corset

then warbling

her enchantment

like a sprinkling

of oregano

over melting

mozzarella

covering all that

dough

underneath