A sextet with one man out front
Alone with one odd instrument.

Suffice it to say, Io & l’italiano (my course book
for absolute beginners) comes ready with a glossary
in Inglese, Arabo, Cinese, Giapponese e Russo,
so there are pictures, charts, and diagrams galore
to improvise a Lingua franca. Go figure.

Since the folks around here are multilingual
And the sites around here are multigenerational,

There’s never no telling who’s coming or going
And where they might settle down in the process.

Apparently, the bar that closed down on Corso Garibaldi
is replacing (in some new guise) the old one at la stazione,

Which closed last year, when we were still riding the rails
And noticed all the things we passed around in the papers.

Letter-by-letter Google Type leaves enough confusion about each individual word in turn.

Altogether, Mr. Unreliable translates it: “Virgin has created thousands of consecrated martyrs.”