La Maiella

 

Son passati millenni da quel tempo

in cui l’uomo qui volse  gli occhi all’alto

e nel cielo e nel sole trovò Dio.

                 

Qui della terra accolse il nutrimento

delle rocce del monte fece altari

e portò la capanna ad essi accanto.

 

La montagna dall’uomo consacrata

sacra restò nei secoli e la gente

a lei volgeva come ad un segnale.

 

Amore-forza madre-amore-pace

larga possente grigia nei tramonti

prolunga ancora voci alla sua ombra.

 

Ma la terra vicina non l’intende

d’ogni palpito umano ormai si svuota

la povertà distrutto ha i focolari.

 

Una processione d’ombre morte

nei crepuscoli prende gli erti clivi

portando croci silenziosamente.

 

Poi tra gli ulivi i religiosi ulivi

passa e si sperde per le vie del monte

con gli altari di pietra verso il Cielo.

The Maiella

 

Thousands of years have elapsed since that time

When man here turned his eyes on high

And in the sky and in the sun he found God.

 

Here he gathered nutriment from the earth

From the rocks of the mountain he made altars

And he carried his cabin to be close to them.

                 

The mountain consecrated by man

Remained sacred through the centuries and people

Turned their eyes towards it as to a signal.

 

Love-strength, mother-love-peace

Large, powerful, grey in the sunsets

It lengthens even more the voices in its shadow.

 

But the nearby land does not understand it

It is now empty of every human heartbeat

Poverty has destroyed the hearths.

 

A procession of dead shadows

In the twilight takes to the precipitous slopes

Bearing crosses silently.

 

Then amidst the olive trees, the religious olive trees,

It passes and is lost on the mountain pathways

With the stone altars towards Heaven.

English translation courtesy of Marion Apley Porreca