Eyetalians

Reno owned Carnazola's
grocery store: Reno among
Leno, Aldo, Dino, and
Dom--wops, pisans, or
"guineas" as my Uncle would
say. They spoke in a chattering
invective which
I plucked choice words from:
"dupa," "coolu," "fungol."
They were nauna and naunoo
instead of Grandma and Grandpa;
they made dandelion wine and
grappa in their cellars, dug their
lunches from a garden, had
olive oil and polenta on
their table and the Virgin Mary
on their front lawns...From the
Old Country to the New, 1st and
2nd generation, off the boat or
airplane to melt into America
where money is the name of the game, and
you either got, or no got.