Sonnets From Other Lives: Gino

He hears her on the stair at 10:15.
She drops her keys—he wonders—is she drinking?
She puts Puccini on—what could that mean?
An abandoned Butterfly? Now he’s thinking
of her next door—lonely in her flat—
swooning drunkenly with tragic sorrow.
They sit together now—he & the cat—
Maria Callas promises tomorrow
Pinkerton returns--we know he won’t.
He fills his glass half full (or half empty).
The music cuts off suddenly. This goes
over poorly with him—it’s unfriendly
of her to end the evening’s theater.
Whatever did he ever see in her?