MARIA MIRAGLIA

 

It Was Dawn

 

I decided to go, at last

to get out from that house

which had been for so long mine

heavy and grim the atmosphere

divergences and aloofness

great like mountains

never a word of love

never a smile

but…silences

The only deliverance

from the everlasting oppression

to run quickly away

and the day came

It was dawn

the first day-lights peeping

from the horizon

and aimless

i closed behind me that door

only a lean cat in the avenue and

just some streetlights

still lightening the houses

inside me a faint hope

to hear a familiar voice

crying out my name

Not far the sea and its waves

rhythmically breaking

against the rocks

I found myself there

shivering with cold

yet could clearly hear

coming from the deep waters

a caressing voice

and i let me go to its inviting call

My heart stopped beating

my lungs breathing

but I could see

shortly after

some passers by

looking at my lifeless body and

from a distance hear

their voices whisper

a drowned man…a drowned man

 

New Fears

 

Mirroring yourself

on the pond of time

you look at your whitened hair

Your face and notice

the furrows that mark it,

How many starry skies

or in a storm

scored your path

 

in the evening now

you feel the fatigue

of the day of the

slow steps that

accompany you to the alcove

where Morpheus struggles to arrive

your dreams don't go

to the colours of dawn

in the pure morning air

to the new day

to live in joy

but gloomy

they turn to the twilight hours

and with pain

you think of the time that fled

that like poison

infect your mind

afflicts your soul

and feel strange fears

you didn't know before

 

Father

Dedicated to Saman Abbas

 

I spoke another language

went to school

In a new country

that had greeted us

and given you a job

a country where to love

is not a sin

But still tied up

to my mother's breast

you promised me

to a friend of yours

and at my refusal

you who had given me life

Father

You also denied it to me

Hidden in your niqab Mother

You didn't want to look

Beyond your veil

to plant and water

seeds for a new life

and without a word

left me to go

Now

in the garden

Of our house

where innocent I used to play

You breathe the acrid

pungent smell

Of my rotten flesh

The songs of the sparrows

that play hide and seek

among the cherry trees

will no longer wake me

to new days

welcomed by angels

I look at you from up here

And still

I feel you love you

 

MARIA MIRAGLIA

 

MARIA MIRAGLIA: Educationist, poet, translator, peace activist, Maria A. Miraglia was born and lives in Italy. For a long time, an active member of Amnesty International, she herself founder and chairwoman of World Foundation for Peace. Member of Ican, of the International Observatory for Information and Human Rights. Founding member and literary director of the Italian cultural association P. Neruda, honorary member of Nationes Unidas de las Letras, advisory member of the editor board of Galaktika Poetike Autunis, member of the editorial board of Our poetry Archive, member of the editorial advisory board of Sahitya Anand. Presidente de la organization Mundial de los Trovatores, Italy and Deputy President – Coordination, at a child rights global organization, the United World Movement for Children (UWMC). She collaborates for poetry with numerous national and international newspapers and magazines. Her poems have been translated into several foreign languages and are collected in numberless anthologies all over the world.  Dr Maria Miraglia is often a welcome guest of international events for poetry. Beauty and profundity are the most important characteristic of Maria Miraglia’s works and although these elements are found in some of the exceptional works by modern writers, blending them together seems a challenge for many, where Maria is found to be successful applying them into her poems. Author of anthologies in Italian, English or both languages She is recipient of numerous national and international awards and recognition.