Over thirty years ago

Marcello and I

Watched a movie together

On this beach

It was called

Tales of Ordinary Madness

 

There was a scene midway through the film

Showing Ornella Muti feeding many seagulls

On a wide sandy beach

She was naked from the waist down

 

Ben Gazzara watched her from a distance

He had poetry in his eyes

 

Today I am on the same beach

Marcello is no longer with me

The beach cinema has gone

Only its foundations remain

 

Cinema is so ephemeral