Rino Barillari, King of Paparazzi

Harry’s Bar, Rome, on Via Veneto –

Where the king of paparazzi waits,

White bandage on his cheek, like a raw scar

Of honour – is heaving, full of Dolce

Vita‘s cream, in Rino’s memory –

Illustrious as some vague delirious fantasy

Of his gilded past… – He’s snapped back to the

Present, as out walks Gerard Depardieu

With his companion, Magda Vavrusova:

Sad scenes of sordid violence ensue –

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Recalling Rino in his pomp, maybe,

Scourge of glitterati outside all the bars;

But now, he says, the street is like a cemetery

Thronged only with the lonely ghosts of stars.

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Photo by Ziogiucas via Italian wiki