When I was a child
I was not afraid to run wild
through the streets of your ancient days
I would run from afternoon and turn it to evening
my screams calling the other kids echoing
eager to play untill supper time
that was of my life the prime
joy and freedom were the key words
jumping and dancing with joy for anything
unlike today those things don’t ring
me a bell anymore
life in peaceful silent streets
where a car you would rarely meet
people living outdoors
my grandmother sewing
and singing
religious songs
that she to me taught
warnings on things of life
to which I never thought
affection and love and novelty
was in the air
no trace yet of despair
of you telling me
of your past life
how much you had to strife
of you running like me
wildly
into the air untill you were seventeen
you orphan at the age of five
your first husband that died
how many times you cried
then on summer afternoons
the idyll between me and you
never broke except temporarily
to go and play with my friends happily
life was so full of hope and expectations
to be a star I had the expectation
where did all those expectations go?
I don’t know….
I then returned to the stories of your life
that seem to me now like the foretelling of my own future strife
then there were those peaceful starry nights on the country side
with my family when you weren’t by my side
reading outside
and plunging into a new world
but you were always my haven during my school days back in town
on your face rarely a frown
except when you told how your father died during the war
when you ran crying after his cart
that was taking him away from you
then making him stop to reassure you
just a five year old baby were you
those wild free pure days devoid of any care
right up to infinity I dared to stare
we had something special to share
sweet nonna that love song you sang to me
of what was going to be:
“ah,com’é triste il mar
se non c’é un sorriso del tuo bel viso qui vicino a me
tu m’insegnasti ad amar….”
in Sicily, time seems has stopped
I wish those days had cristallised
and me in happiness with you stopped
I miss those carefree days
I miss you grandma
and those old sicilian days
my heart with you always stays
you infused in me your courageous
spirit that made you famous
in your own town and neighbourhood
I am proud to be your grandchild
never got over of the day you died
the last time I saw you
to me your arms you opened wide
never will play hide
and seek again
in your street again
those days,the best of my life
are lost forever
but I am glad that we were together
I was with you in spirit to enjoy the last days of your life
that were to be the last days of freedom and of my own child life.
Tags: affection, change, childhood, countryside, death, family, joy, life, melancholy, memories, my grandmother, parting, past, personal, play, sicily, silence, town
