The Telephone

“It sits like an anvil
on end tables”
—David Trinidad, “Black Telephone,”
The Best American Poetry 2010

We were getting chatty—
On the clairvoyante Telephone,
Talking with Stephen Spender
About how tainted Ischia was
Becoming after ten years.

It was the pretty much the same—
With Key West as Elizabeth Bishop
Was saying to Auden back then.
Both had superb natural beauty,
But the despoilers, interlopers
Foreshadowed doom, dissipation.

The ruin of Ischia traditions—
Prompted Auden & Kallman’s adieu.
Good-bye to Mezzogiorno and
Good-bye to Giocondo the cute
But sullen houseboy/bartender.

The farmhouse in Kirchstetten—
Miss Auden bought for $12,000.
His first & only house & home,
It was comfy, near the autobahn,
Karajan played Wagner for them.