When In Rome: Improving Foreign Relations
When I'm traveling and away from you,
Not to worry, dear, my love is true.
I remind myself that I'm still yours
When I find myself on foreign shores
In a tryst with a miss behind closed doors,
It's not straying, it's "diplomacy",
Part of my "Good Neighbor" policy.
How else can I explain a flirty dame on a train in Spain?
It would be impolite to refrain from joining her for a brew.
I may not always stop to think,
While teetering on the brink,
How easily one little drink can turn into a few,
But bibulistically,
When in Rome I do as the Romans do.
If a femme makes an overture in France to chercher l'amour,
And it leads to a brief séjour, it's not romance I pursue.
I'll learn more French in an hour
From Mademoiselle in her bower
Than at the Louvre, or the Tower, or even Notre Dame, too,
And linguistically,
When in Rome I do as the Romans do.
So don't shed tears bitterly over pictures from Italy
Of my guide Isabella and me, my heart still beats true.
Each time I give in to a yen,
It's just so I'll know where I've been
'til I'm back in the States once again,
Rendezvousing with you.
So euphemistically,
When in Rome, I might go for a "spin" in Rome,
'cause, Dear, I hear it's a sin in Rome
Not to do as the Romans do.
Author's note: According to my archives, dear reader, I wrote this piece in 2016 and published it here on Poetry Soup shortly thereafter. I was later thrilled and delighted when it was selected to be included in the very first "PS: It's Poetry" anthology published by PS in 2020. It is one of my personal favorites of all the pieces I have written to date, and so I think it's due for another airing.
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