"LA BELLEZZA PUÒ SALVARE IL MONDO"

“The world needs more poets”, said the reciter at a book presentation I attended last night, “for beauty can save the world.” The lovely poetry and musical interpretation of it that I heard at this event affirmed my belief that this is so.

I was particularly pleased to have been invited for two reasons: that the new poetry book was by Professore Antonio Lonardo, a Modican teacher and poet whose work I have come to love and the fact that the presentation took place at the ITC Archimede, the school that first welcomed me to Modica as a teacher in charge of an exchange and with which I feel I have a special bond. Professore Lonardo had taught there for 16 years so there was a very happy atmosphere and you could immediately sense the pride of both his former colleagues and newer members of the “Archimede family” in “their” poet.

In November 2005 I attended the presentation of Professore Lonardo’s first collection, Desiderio di Luce [Wishing for Light] and, with his permission, I now quote from this work the first two verses of his poem, Shalom, as it has resonances for the world situation today:

Shalom!
Shalom!
È il grido
dei popoli in ansia,
è la voce
della coscienza tremante,
è il desiderio
degli uomini liberi.

Shalom!
È il suono
lontano che cresce,
è il desiderio
inconscio di tutti,
è l’eco
diffusa del mondo.

Shalom!
Is the cry
of those who live in fear
is the voice
of trembling conscience
and the desire
of all free men.

Shalom!
Is the distant sound
which is growing louder
is the unconscious desire
of all of us
which echoes
throughout the world.

[My translation.]

The new collection is entitled Le Stagioni del Cuore [Seasons of the Heart] and I think the title tells you much about the subject matter. Professore Lonardo expresses in verse his love for poetry, family, people in general, life itself and God. He also explores the phenomenon of time.

My favourite poem from the collection is this one [again quoted with Professore Lonardo’s permission]:

Chiave
Per un attimo
ho perso la chiave
del mio cuore;
l’ho ritrovata
in fondo al tuo sguardo,
che ha spalancato
il mio intimo.

Key
For a moment
I lost the key
to my heart;
I found it again
in the depths of your eyes
which threw open
the door of my heart.

[My translation.]

After each reading of three or four poems, a pianist played a piece of evocative music chosen to enhance their effect on us all. There were cries of “bellissima!” and much applause each time. At the end of the reading Professore Lonardo, visibly touched by these interpretations and by the obvious affection for him in the room, thanked everyone and invited us, before partaking of a feast of dolci, to take a little ribbon-tied bigliettino; on each of these he had written an extract from one of the poems. Mine, appropriately, read:

Ho scoperto l’orizzonte
Dove spunta il sole;
è nei profondi occhi
di chi sorride alla vita.

I have discovered the horizon
where the sun rises;
it is in the depths of the eyes
of those who smile at life.

[From Singolari Esperienze – my translation.]

When I read or hear poetry and music like that I know I was right to come and live among Sicilians.