Si I was sentenced to seven months in this prison gun metal gray A mere slap on the wrist wouldn’t you say A trifle for the glory I have heaped upon a nation What more proof do you need The guards have moved me to a larger cell for I am drowning in gifts flowers tokens of love from my countrymen who envy my courage whisper my name in wonder and salute my so-called crime Do you see how right how just this grand theft of mine was The worm of agony gnawed at my heart Leonardo da Vinci the true Italian Likewise his mysteriously enchanting model the wife of Francesco del Giocondo It drove me to the depths of delirium that his Italian Mona Lisa could be seen could belong could survive in a museum run by French lunatics 5
