Rose
Unlike Carol--arguably one of the most astute readers I have encountered--I do see one back story, at least. And unlike Michael--who is far more learned in these matters than I--I have no problem incorporating an image from Caraveggio into a poem about Barcelona. If we follow this logic is Italy the only place we may reference Italian art?
The story: The tawdry, jaded world the couple is looking into (the prostitutes, the ra ra skirts)is challenged by the purity and goodness of the saint-like girl. Michael's description of Caraveggio's signature flash of bright face in the darkness seems to work well here. There was a time when the couple's love was innocent, pure like that girl. Thus: "Those Were the Days." The atmosphere of regret created by the musicians, the prostitutes--their lives thrown away--can't snuff out the image of this pure girl. Her presence, her tenacious presence in this lurid scene, lulls N and N's partner, apparently, into thinking there is still hope for them, that the love they once shared as represented by the girl is still posssible; but this is only a musically-induced mood that slips over them like fog. Soon, it will dissipate. Notice that the word "doomed" is placed with such force beside the girl. The girl's purity can't survive in such a place; the couple's relationship won't survive, either.
I find it a superb piece. Goethe's Sehnsucht meets Rimbaud's gaudy.
Best
Lance Levens
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