2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
Essay News Poem Review Short Story
Don’t Ask Me
A poem published on La Macchina Sognante, an Italian-language website founded by writers and poets who felt the need to build a space for writings and debates, both national and international.
Don’t Ask Me
Don’t ask me my name, ask me where I’m from, where I’m really from, where I was born,
why I was born there and where I live now and why.
Don’t tell me your name, or why you’re here near the security checkpoint, in the middle of
the mountain ranges, selling second-hand shoes from a kiosk with a broken roof.
Tell me instead about the time you stood in the middle of a field watching the night sky
during a thunderstorm.
Alphabet
Written on 7th April 2022, moved by world events.
A is for Afghanistan (countries not allowed) is for the apple tree that won’t grow in the orchard that we called Eden now filled with rubble
B is for boy, the one left behind, the one who made it on the train alone, the one who watched the sky falling down, the last thing he saw
C is for cat, the one trapped under the kitchen table the night the house collapsed…
Thin Air
According to reported figures (February 2019), at least 180,000 people in the UK are reported missing every year: one every 90 seconds. One in 200 children, one in 500 adults. The majority are girls and women. As many as 7 in 10 children are not reported missing. (missingpeople.org.uk).