LUCA AND LOU
Luca Brasi came to America and met Lou
Cabrasi. Or he was always here the entire time.
Luca trusted in a country where nonplussed
Means the opposite of nonplussed. Tu capisci?
Or capisce? Glory to the gangster scrawled
In American-Italian—Il Sommo Poeta learned
The Godfather dialect from Christopher in Hell.
Together they pose killers like Robin Hood
And impel Luca to harmony in silence.
Cowboys chase Lou in a thriller to the edge
Of the escarpment. Ahead lies the Tabernas
Desert and the spaghetti debut. Behind,
The eagle’s bombardment and Tricolore the prize.
A HORSE
A horse, as is its nature,
Runs from woe and any
Danger. It trots away and
Kicks and ranges, it grazes
Under looming constructs.
New paths are found to rip
And pierce creations asunder,
Split open and passed by this
Swift other.
Leaps a rider over there,
With names and orders
In her pockets. A simple form
Supports her moderate heft
And adds confident steps.
She is an amorphous thing
Above an ambulatory object.
She evinces symmetry
Perfect, but unequal.
Together, they permit a structure
That she exhibits on her own.
The rider pauses to open
Her notes, from which
Comes falling a lone
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THE RIDER
Where’s that no-good atheist Nick?
He’s in the ground and that’s it.
Some animals will crawl up
Out of the sewer with rusty knives
And leave you to thrash infection—
A gurgling poxy horrid mess.
A horse just bowls you over,
Kicks you in the teeth stupid.
Nicholas Iorio is an English teacher from South Salem, NY. His 2025 screenplay made the semifinals at Wiki’s screenwriting contest and quarterfinals at Scriptapalooza. He made his directorial debut with the indie short Charles Haux in 2016 and worked on the web series Trafico before that. Originally from Mt. Vernon, Nick is a graduate of Fordham University and Manhattanville’s graduate education program.
OVUNQUE SIAMO 