in the outskirts of Rome a Settebello snaked through The Post Industrial Landscape
on a swivel chair in the observation saloon
a boy named Anthony (Tony)
wrote a poem
he wrote this poem in brown ink
Pietro dei Cieli
on a cold night
peter lay in the iced grass
and imagined himself
looking down
and seeing
the reflection of the heavens
in his one good eye
after he completed his poem Anthony (Tony) looked ahead and knew that Milan was only three hundred and ninety miles away
in the outskirts of Milan a Settebello snaked through The Post War Industrial Landscape
on a swivel chair in the observation saloon
a boy named Peter (Pietro)
wrote a poem
he wrote this poem in brown ink
Anthony dei Cieli
on a cold night
anthony lay in the iced grass
and imagined himself
looking down
and seeing
the reflection of the heavens
in his one good eye
after he completed his poem Peter (Pietro) looked ahead and knew that Rome was only three hundred and ninety miles away
in their thoughts the boys saw the fast trains passing each other at speed as an anarchist daubed graffiti on the walls of a factory in The Post War Industrial Landscape
pornography disgusted by art
pornografia disgustato da arte
the anarchist vandalised these walls in three different colours
red (rosso)
green (verde)
white (bianco)
he had taken the paints from the collection of an artist called fiore who was painting his portrait trackside
in turn her portrait was being painted by the driver of the train which passed the pair three times a day
she was aware of this and threw flowers to him each time he passed
flowers are the new guns
the train driver wrote her a poem and sent it to her each time he passed
Altri popoli citta
in other peoples cities
my friends send
letters of decoration
to each other
in the observation saloon two industrial magnates sat with their wives on the swivel chairs. each imagined the others wife naked for the whole journey
as the mile posts faded they grew alarmed that their dreams would fade
they thought about holidays
about swimming in the sea
naked with their partners wife
whilst their factories
ran unhindered
by the industrial disputes
that scarred The Post War Industrial Landscape
as much as the anarchists did
they each passed a note to each other
written in pink ink
the wheels are turning
my heart is burning
and slyly they kissed
their swivel chairs
turned away from the direction of travel
their embrace was witnessed by tourist from greece who went to the toilet and with her black lipstick scrawled
pornography disgusted by art
pornografia disgustato da arte
across all available surfaces with the exception of the mirror as its reflection told her that her destination was only three hundred miles away
the train driver in his raised cabin looked at the unfinished portrait of the flower girl and added petals to the landscape that lay behind her
he called his unfinished work
the flower maiden
but he was a guilty man as he knew that his love was shared. in front of him and acting as the roof to the observation saloon was the streamlined beauty of the machine. he loved the subtle curves of her body and how she exposed her beauty to all as the miles decreased
he fumbled a cigarette out of a Lucky Seven packet and placed it into his mouth but did not light it. he imagined it aflame and clouds of grey smoke filling his cabin
as he finished his cigarette he rose from his driving chair and found the door and jumped from the speeding train
he died at the feet of the flower maiden who painted his portrait as he died
she called it
flowers entering heaven
and proposed to give her work to the anarchist. but he had finished his task and was placing explosives between the girders of a nearby bridge
all anarchists must destroy trains
as they sat in the dining cars of their respective trains both boys looked out of their one good eye at the attractive bar. They were too young to drink and had been given coca cola by the attendant who had two good eyes. the boys looked at their bubbling drinks and counted the coaches of their trains in the windows of the glass factories in The Post War Industrial Landscape
there were seven
the boys calculated the average speed of the trains and the time of their arrivals by using the bubbles of their soft drinks as counters and dividing this into the warped reflective movements of their glasses when placed against the window of the moving trains
they confirmed their theories by placing their half consumed drinks by the plexiglass walls of the resting compartment
when satisfied with their calculations they retired to the restaurant section and commenced their meals with their naked mothers and respective fathers who were industrial magnates
on the high girders of the doomed bridge the anarchist placed his last batch of explosive into a hidden yet exposed part of the structure. he calculated that both trains would pass simultaionsly over the bridge from different directions at three in the afternoon
he would detonate the catastrophe from a nearby orphanage and then help to recover bodies from the wrecked trains as any good citizen would
he lit a Lucky Seven and waited
the trains would pass in an hour
the artist called fiore saw the grey cigarette smoke hanging high in the girders of the doomed bridge and called to the anarchist
he did not reply
she stopped a passing cake seller and purchased his revolver as he journeyed to the factories in The Post War Industrial Landscape to sell his wares
she called to the anarchist again
he did not reply
pornography disgusted by art
pornografia disgustato da arte
she shouted at him. The anarchist looked down and threw his cigarette at the flower maiden
as she was standing in the forecourt of an Esso garage she took aim at the smoking cigarette and shot it in half with a certain aim
the two parts of the cigarette landed safely but the bullet continued its upward journey and hit the anarchist in his right eye killing him instantly
his last words were
there is no art
non c’e arte
during the next hour the flower maiden buried both the anarchist and the train driver in the same grave next to a factory that produced sanitary equipment
she made the explosives safe and climbed onto one of the gantries that crossed the track and awaited the trains
when the driverless train passed she jumped (in the manner of a suicide victim) onto the leading car and with some difficulty opened the cabin door
the boys calculated that she took control of the train with only seven miles remaining
when the train stopped at the great station all of its passengers alighted (some smoking Lucky Seven)
the artist called fiore painted each of their portraits (in the modern style)
later she returned to the graves of the anarchist and the train driver and daubed graffiti on the walls of a factory in The Post War Industrial Landscape
pornography disgusted by art
pornografia disgustato da arte
in the outskirts of Rome a Settebello snaked through The Post Industrial Landscape
on a swivel chair in the observation saloon
a boy named Anthony (Tony)
wrote a poem
he wrote this poem in brown ink
Pietro dei Cieli
on a cold night
peter lay in the iced grass
and imagined himself
looking down
and seeing
the reflection of the heavens
in his one good eye
after he completed his poem Anthony (Tony) looked ahead and knew that Milan was only three hundred and ninety miles away
in the outskirts of Milan a Settebello snaked through The Post War Industrial Landscape
on a swivel chair in the observation saloon
a boy named Peter (Pietro)
wrote a poem
he wrote this poem in brown ink
Anthony dei Cieli
on a cold night
anthony lay in the iced grass
and imagined himself
looking down
and seeing
the reflection of the heavens
in his one good eye
after he completed his poem Peter (Pietro) looked ahead and knew that Rome was only three hundred and ninety miles away