On a visit to Corleone
I love Sicily and this happened on a visit there way back a long time.
Comments welcome.
On a visit to Corleone
We, who did not know her,
stood, respecting her death.
You removed your hat
as you had been taught
from distant childhood swipes at caps
by anxious maternal fingers.
I watched as people standing by
traced cruciform patterns
with their fingers.
Respect or gratitude?
It was not their wife or mother,
passing strangers to the music of an out of tune band.
Behind the ones who carried her,
two small children
dressed in unseasonal black
carried a picture in a heavy frame.
Their tear stained faces upturned,
bravely defying loss.
A man in a black suit
and collarless shirt
crisp and white
despite the sun that made him sweat
the tears that ran from eye to neck
unstaunched.
I felt like an intruder
not meant to be there,
not meant to witness their grief.
Something like a robber
or a voyeur
wanting to take pictures
that would look clever
in black and white.
You have created a very strong image here very powerful words too, tears came to my eyes as I read through and visualised the whole scene. Beautifully done. Sue.
On the first time I went to Sicily, eons ago,, this actually happened. It’s a very strange place is Corleone, lots of twisty narrow street and of course its half way up a ‘mountain’. It is a beautiful place though. The whole island is if you can ignore the ‘goat gridlock’ in Palermo. And of course the volcano is sometimes spectacular. I loved it.
Much thanks for reading and commenting.
Beautifully sad. I could relate to it, been there done that.
Another Sicily lover? I just adore the place. It is so ancient and of course it has a history of invasion so you have all kinds of cultures represented in the ruins. Of course you can’t really not notice the Mafia especially in the mountains but I always found if you don’t get in their way they tend not to get yours. The volcano makes up for everything though. I just love that thing. I think I even wrote a poem about it once. I’ll have to have a look for it and see if I can’t submit it here.… Read more »