Pontiffinale
When the pope dies,
I hope I hear the news
from Sylvia Poggioli.
She is a rock
(and I love the way
she rolls her Rs).

Sylvia Poggioli said the
papal camerlengo
(oh, how she pronounced
that word!)
will strike John Paul on the forehead
with a silver hammer
and call his name three times
to prove he is dead.

I admired how
she did not speculate about
the pope's condition just
before that hammer business.
You can tell Sylvia Poggioli
has a keen sense of
suffering-induced redemption.
"Bang bang Maxwell's silver
hammer came down upon his head,"
she did not sing but had
stuck in her head, I bet. An earworm
at a time like this!

Thousands of news people
slither at St. Peter's Square,
where penthouse views
of the chimney have been
sold out for years. It's no Thunder
Over Louisville but it's still a
pretty good show.
I just hope that
I don't hear the news
from Brian Williams or Jim Lehrer
when the pope dies.
I hope I hear the news
from Sylvia Poggioli.