sat at his work desk
high up on the fifteenth floor
Geoffrey eats his lunch
a panini delivered
by the Brucciani van
eighteen eighty two
Luigi Brucciani
arrives in England
footsore after having walked
all the way from Italy
he travels on to
Scotland where he makes ice-cream
he works up in Ayr
before moving to Barrow
to set up his own business
this ice-cream parlour
becomes hugely successful
his kids start others
Morecambe and Preston get
their own Brucciani
Leicester has to wait
'till nineteen thirty seven
for Brucciani
to appear in large letters
on a shop in Horsefair Street
Leicester folk love this
'oasis in the city'
an ice-cream haven
that Luigi junior
puts his heart and soul into
throughout the forties
fifties, sixties, seventies
the business expands
a bakery in Bath Street
to prepare cakes and pastries
cafés open, close
Horsefair Street closing in
Nineteen ninety two
but Brucciani still thrives
as popular as ever
two cafés serving
delicious ice-cream, coffee
snacks, cakes and pastries
all made in their bakery
still located in Bath Street
none of this knowledge
disturbs Geoffrey's lunch break
a glance at page three
he just knows a good sandwich
from a run of the mill one
afternoon shadows
he brushes a few stray crumbs
from his workstation
Paul Conneally
Leicester 2013
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