Postcards From Paradise
From La Romita, Terni, Italy
You have been asking me about my poetry retreat with Kim Addonizio. Here is a poem (in progress) that I think best summarizes this incredible experience. Inspired by Adam Zagajewski’s En route (which I recommend you read), here are my short snippets of Italy… I hope you will enjoy!
Cartoline dal paradiso 1. travelling without care A small yellow suitcase, poetry books & black lace underwear (just in case), invoking parole in italiano, filling your cup with buried bellezza, gioia radiating from your chest out ward. you don’t belong in this country (but you knew this already). You fly where your heart is calling. 2. at the airport you send a cheesy message to your daughter, you are perfect just as you are (in case your plane crashes, you want these words to be the last to her). She hearts your message and replies do we have more avocado oil? 3. la pioggia Soft rain falling on the road, soft tears falling on your cheeks. Dreams made real, you think, as you whisper grazie mille a thousand times & ed una volta di più for the providence that has brought you onto this bus. 4. sheep shit or maybe there were goats? Your new white Converses are now covered in Italian made merda. oh, well. it is part of the experience. 5. la chiesa churches are not only for praying but also, yoga & writing, which is another kind of prayer. 6. art is not an answer to the world’s problems, but a question about the world. Art is a complication, it makes life difficult, said italian painter mario schiffano, (it sounds even better in italiano). 7. buongiorno your finestra sings to you in the morning. The Umbrian sun flooding your bed, your heart. You want to be awake for every moment. 8. poetry have you earned a seat at the table? 9. il americano We have a new pope, from Chicago. 10. unlucky in cards, unlucky in love Some like to play a game of scopa ma tu hai la voglia di scopare. 11. at sacro bosco You follow Valeria the school teacher & her herd of first-graders, pretending to snap pictures of monsters while you take in her Italian wisdom: avete il coraggio di affrontare la vita? she asks & you wonder if you have the courage to approach another school teacher quello, il bello, with the ear-piercing & chocolate skin you want to devour. 12. sole/sola At night this greedy loneliness sinking its ravenous teeth into your flesh like one of those mythical beasts you saw at sacro bosco. you wouldn’t mind being eaten, slowly per piacere, a wet tongue pouring over the landscape of your body, a gentle rain after a drought. 13. poetry in progress so much depends upon a black lace underwear 14. a question Will you love again? 15. art Can art contain all this love in your heart?
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And now, for some pictures…
More to come, I promise! But internet connection is not the best and I’m busy writing and taking it all in…
Baci,
Imola
That landscape line 🥹😍
This was so much fun to read! Thank you. Enjoy these last days of travel!