“All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.” - Federico Fellini
Scars, reminders
What was once painful,
Has changed to a special flaw,
Sometimes only a hint,
Subtly secreted, the blame
Beneath a thought, a whisper
Singing to the spirit,
Colored in rose and gentle,
Comforting the heart
Who listens, the blemish,
Revealing the hidden
Heart, the music of a soul,
Who dances with the light,
Stirring grace, embracing the pearl,
Both significant and surreal,
Emphasizing what is sincere,
The beautiful buried between layers of grief,
Anguish leaking through in dewlike sweetness,
Amazing even the truth
With the beauty of its secret.
Categories:
fellini, appreciation, blessing, pain,
Form: Free verse
I was in Trieste
It was in 1962, a revolution attempt that failed
roads had been churned; the American CIA tried to blend in
not successfully wearing Hawaii shirts to hide the guns.
I met her at the railway station, a small woman with a big suitcase
which I offered to carry at her lodging.
I was a polite young man, thanks to my communist mother.
It was a long road, a cobblestone road, was heavy going
I have come to think Federico Fellini was hiding in the case.
Arriving at her lodging, I was not invited to her room
she gave me a peck on the nose.
Later I learned she was a famous actress, but I wondered
why is she, in Trieste?
Categories:
fellini, break up, first love,
Form: Sonnet
Like the whore in every Fellini film
When the man of her dreams
Is about to throw her off a jagged Italian cliff
And abscond with her entire life savings
She tells him
As I tell you
Take it –
All that I have is yours
And then she jumps
Categories:
fellini, devotion, love, marriage, relationship,
Form: Free verse
Signor Fellini
Imagine us
Respectful of your shadows
Held in suspension by your cinematic mirror
These dreams of yours
Realized through creation’s gift
Offer such ethereal answers
To those of us aroused
Beyond the screen
Your genius remains omnipresent
Extended for touching by hearts and minds
Beseeching all to embrace
Granting acknowledgment and insight
Beyond usual cinema bequests
Yes Signor Fellini
You brought your vision to our eyes
Asking not we accept
But merely contemplate the little boy
Made man behind the camera
For such curiosity
You granted patience
Never asking we believe your honesty
But to consider our own truth
Your essence remains present
Resounding quietly above life’s noise
Easily accessed with but memory
Thoughtfully embraced with smiles of trust
May the purity of La Dolce Vita’s final scene
The echo of silence
From distance unamplified
Whispering from within
Ever haunt those unable to listen
Those unwilling to hear
Categories:
fellini, visionary,
Form: Free verse