{"id":2691,"date":"2020-11-25T09:37:19","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T09:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/idecrawford.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/12\/pickled-jean-shorts-3\/"},"modified":"2021-03-20T14:28:44","modified_gmt":"2021-03-20T14:28:44","slug":"pickled-jean-shorts-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/index.php\/2020\/11\/25\/pickled-jean-shorts-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Bacaro"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The last place I went before lockdown was Venice, and we spent a lot of time there, during the freezing winter nights, in bacari &#8211; traditional Venetian wine-bars. The name comes from the Venetian dialect expression \u201cfar bacara\u201d \u2013 to make a noise. They are tiny, ancient (some dating from the 1300s), and <em>really <\/em>crowded, serving cheap little glasses of local wine, \u2018ombre\u2019,\u00a0 and snacks &#8211; \u2018cichetti\u2019 &#8211; often seafood fresh from the lagoon. The experience of the bacari has come to symbolise for me everything that is the opposite of lockdown; but my memory of them, on the one hand investing all of missing physical social intercourse with a warm glow, has also taken on a strange edge since Venice was one of the first places in Europe I heard of the virus spreading. Beneath is my poem about it all.<\/p>\n<pre><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3142\" src=\"http:\/\/idecrawford.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/61C7FE09-FBBA-4B40-9F8F-4A9C8A5D3283_1_105_c.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"562\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/61C7FE09-FBBA-4B40-9F8F-4A9C8A5D3283_1_105_c.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/61C7FE09-FBBA-4B40-9F8F-4A9C8A5D3283_1_105_c-225x300.jpeg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 562px) 100vw, 562px\" \/><\/pre>\n<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-2691-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/idecrawford.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bacaro.m4a?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/idecrawford.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bacaro.m4a\">http:\/\/idecrawford.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bacaro.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Bacaro<\/h2>\n<p>We were drawn to the windows\u2019 warm honey<\/p>\n<p>moths to a lantern or a night-musk flower,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>but heavy,<\/p>\n<p>Tired of catching iced breath, faces aching<\/p>\n<p>to be touched by the dawn pink<\/p>\n<p>of sudden heat.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Feet throbbing with plodding calle of frozen shadow<\/p>\n<p>and pathless warrens of sotoporteghi threaded only by fog to find<\/p>\n<p>to find dead<\/p>\n<p>ends<\/p>\n<p>black water<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The little door clicked shut against wan mist behind,<\/p>\n<p>and we drowned in the rippling warmth \u2013<\/p>\n<p>ducking low beams and laughter<\/p>\n<p>copper pans blinking like bright opened eyes \u2013<\/p>\n<p>and shoulder to shoulder ordered one of everything<\/p>\n<p>as the crowd<\/p>\n<p>bursting from coats like opening buds<\/p>\n<p>gathered loud and snug.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Morsels of fresh cod fished<\/p>\n<p>from chill quicksilver tide in thin rain,<\/p>\n<p>are whipped into a cream<\/p>\n<p>and the squid, stewed in its own subterfuge<\/p>\n<p>sails in tiny gondole of corn.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ombre, little glasses of sparkling red<\/p>\n<p>bubbles rising as in the wave<\/p>\n<p>of warmer, stranger seas<\/p>\n<p>tingling down my throat and filling inner cold<\/p>\n<p>with a slow sweet rush.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Knowing little more than \u2018Grazie!\u2019 its exchange<\/p>\n<p>was deeply satisfying, full<\/p>\n<p>of the companionship<\/p>\n<p>of being out of the cold.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When we turn to go, the moment<\/p>\n<p>trembles like a weighing-anchor<\/p>\n<p>and the doors close like time behind us.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Doubling houses foam-frail in the fog<\/p>\n<p>Canals of spilt ink open to a dream silence<\/p>\n<p>louder than laughter.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Standing at this crossroads of water<\/p>\n<p>I feel the surface tension of the city of masks<\/p>\n<p>mirror-image of a city<\/p>\n<p>blown from sand and sea like a bubble of glass<\/p>\n<p>frosted by history\u2019s tide of plagues and fear,<\/p>\n<p>But Serene still.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There seems a facelessness behind the mask<\/p>\n<p>a cruelty in such serenity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Over the bridge there rises moon pale<\/p>\n<p>a young Madonna,<\/p>\n<p>sleeves falling like water at slack-tide<\/p>\n<p>pressing her child\u2019s cheek to hers<\/p>\n<p>eyes seas wide.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>(For more on the history of Venice and plague, see my latest blog post)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The last place I went before lockdown was Venice, and we spent a lot of time there, during the freezing winter nights, in bacari &#8211; traditional Venetian wine-bars. The name comes from the Venetian dialect expression \u201cfar bacara\u201d \u2013 to make a noise. They are tiny, ancient (some dating from the 1300s), and really crowded, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[101,93,94,97,98,95,104,99,102,103,100,92,91,96],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/CB61A12D-CC40-407F-8B02-0315D82029D3_1_105_c.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2691"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2691"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3444,"href":"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2691\/revisions\/3444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idecrawford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}