good pizza makes a city

a city is no city unless it’s got good pizza

I am no culinary expert but here’s my advice

this evening as traffic hustles past try to walk

with a Yo New York John Travolta strut

show some attitude

like you’ve been walking that same block your entire life

like you know who’s got the best Neapolitan

like you know whose Sicilian is to die for

like you know ordering more than two toppings is a sin

tell the pizza guy it’s “to go”

and don’t fold your slice like a paper airplane

don’t stop to blow then bite or eat while you walk

wait until you find some empty stairs outside an apartment

look left, look right, no one’s around?  good!

sit in the streetlight shadows on the cold stone stoop

your paper plate, greasy bag and too many napkins at your side

with your mushroom slice in hand

mangia con gusto

feast alone tonight

under a mozzarella-white Italian moon

that’s come from across the Atlantic

just to keep you company