Orvieto is of course its people. Orvieto is … well Orvieto. Not just the streets and the buildings but Orvieto is its people. There are those we encounter every day when we move into the center of town. Coming up from the parking lot down below, there’s the young man in the shop before oneContinue reading “Orvieto People”
Category Archives: Poems
Brief Encounters
I was at the coffee bar and had just settled down for my morning coffee when I noticed a young man seated at the table by the door. He couldn’t have been more than twenty with a mop of curly hair and smooth chubby cheeks. And he was big. After exchanging good morning greetings, heContinue reading “Brief Encounters”
Fleeting Memories
July, summer has set in it all its heat. I lie motionless in bed hoping to cool off. My hands and arms finally feel cold. Eyes closed, I let my mind wander and find myself in Jerusalem or Nazareth. Forty years ago. I have risen early. The American students I am chaperoning are still asleep. All butContinue reading “Fleeting Memories”
Dream
Last night I had a vision. The city, once Urbs Vetus, Now Orvieto, Was rooted in the cliff On which it stood. Houses, streets, lanes, piazzas Were all sprouting from the tufa cliff, Like weeds Or flowers of the field That last but a day. Only here and there A few tap roots reached downContinue reading “Dream”
Usual Musings
It must be one or two in the morning. I lie in bed and have pulled the blankets, really only one, up to my shoulders. And there in that triangle of sky at the top of a shaft between the shutters through which light can filter, I sometimes see, – from where I lie – theContinue reading “Usual Musings”
Reading versus Speaking
I have an Italian friend intent on learning new languages, in particular English. So, when we have a few minutes, we take out an English book and he reads a few pages aloud, marking words or phrases that are new to him, particularly those he feels he can use. There are some of course I warnContinue reading “Reading versus Speaking”
Now I See You
Now you see me Now you don’t Does that mean you no longer exist? Not only could I see, but I could also touch and hear you. Then when you turned the corner you were no longer there. Or if you were there, you were invisible. Is that any different from the tree I seeContinue reading “Now I See You”
Lion
Lion on my windowsillwhat are you looking at,what are you thinking. Silently you watch memove through the room. Yesterdayyou looked outwardson the age-old chestnutdown by the gate,on the ladder restingagainst the wallto one side of the window,on the lilac bushhalfway down the slopealready weighted downwith fragrant purple clusters.My Ukrainian helperasked permissionto cut a branch forContinue reading “Lion”
Love
We are human beings and subject to a range of emotions, ranging from hate to love. Perhaps one of the most significant of human emotions is love, that attachment to another being, an emotion we also find in our four-legged friends. There is the love of a child for his mother, of a mother forContinue reading “Love”
One Never Knows
One never knows There weren’t too many in Orvieto those years who spoke English. It must have been the late 1960s or early 70s. There was the language school, equivalent of high school. They needed someone called “a reader”, who would come once a week to lend a hand to the regular teacher and theyContinue reading “One Never Knows”
Movies
My family is not a movie family. There are however memories of movies, and many I have watched more than once, whether on the silver screen or TV. Movies that I remember. The dates may not be when I saw them, but are when they came out. So it is when, where, and with whom.Continue reading “Movies”
Memories
Rome with Carolyn, 8 may 2015 Over ten years ago. When living here in Rome was still something to be envied. The Janiculum. Dinner at Lo Scarpone. A large entrance courtyard with a flowering vine covering the whole area. Then in with tables and let’s say real food, although they also had pizza. In oneContinue reading “Memories”
Coming Back
Coming back. Returning. To a place. But without the people you saw there every day it was not the same. So you cut short your stay. You left. Surely, though, I want to tell you, you can return to a place without the people. A place can be seen for itself alone. You can experienceContinue reading “Coming Back”
Birthday
97 years ago. I find it strange and somehow revealing that my father didn’t mention my mother’s name – after all seems she played an important part in this event. The years have passed, and now that I am 97 I find myself thinking of the many things I wish I had done, or hadContinue reading “Birthday”
Aftermath of Phone Books
I doubt one can still find those thick phone books which told you the telephone number and street where a person lived. Not only that but they doubled as cushions to raise toddlers high enough to sit at a table with grown-ups. Those large unwieldy objects are objects of the past, but small personal phoneContinue reading “Aftermath of Phone Books”
Burning Memories
When I lived in New York studying at the university, most of my friends were Jewish. It was something I simply took for granted. They might have been Greek or Albanian or Indian. Most of them paid little attention to the fact that my family was of German stock. But it was not until IContinue reading “Burning Memories”
Cold Nose Two
I know it’s cold so don’t even try to poke my nose outside. I lie in bed waiting for my son to finish whatever he is doing at the computer since he must help me to put on my brace. Thoughts begin to swirl around my head. I should really get up but I can’tContinue reading “Cold Nose Two”
Cold Nose
Notes to oneself My nose is cold. Must be cold outside. True. It is January. Costanza is on the couch. Or is it called the sofa. She’s wrapped in a blanket. The blanket with hearts on one side. And with wooly curlicues on the other. The book I’m reading has a young man called theContinue reading “Cold Nose”
Sears and Montgomery Wards
Oh dear. The NY Times has an article that Sears is about to disappear for the second time. I suppose Montgomery Wards also disappeared years ago and with the two of them there go the dreams of my childhood. How my sister and I would wait for the postman’s car to drive up the dirtContinue reading “Sears and Montgomery Wards”
The letter C and A Special Birthday
December is marked by the letter C. There is of course Christmas but there is also Carolyn, Cynthia, and most important Costanza. Carolyn, you were just a student when first you came to stay with us, rather perplexed and not quite sure what you were doing in an unknown Italian household as you were finishingContinue reading “The letter C and A Special Birthday”
Erika Bizzarri 