Listen to My Memories

    The songs of my youth are with me still.  Golden arias forever 
lost in the echoes of time.  They fill my heart with unforgettable 
memories, sometimes happy, sometimes sad  Listen and you will hear...

   The soft whir of a brightly colored hummingbird's wings
        The murmuring leaves of a medlar tree in a high wind
   The angry roar of a stormy sea
        Nonna's fervent prayer to St. John the Baptist, as the fury 
of the tempest reaches a high cresendo
        A mother's sorrowful wail at her son's funeral
   The family children reciting a Novena in lyric, unsure voices
        The languid chant of the evening Rosary
   The majesty of the Gregorian Mass at Santa Rosalia
        A churchbells' plaintive ring, thin and far away
   The sing song dialect of vendors, hawking their wares in the 
market place
        Enchanted hours of play in the Greek Temple at Segesta
   The laughter and whispers of passionate vows between young lovers
    The clip of a peasant's sharp curved knife, as it cuts away a 
bunch of ripe grapes from the vine
    The squish of grapes crushed under heavy boots, and the gurgle of 
golden liquid as it pours into wooden caskets
    A rooster's crow at dawn, heralding a new day
   The soft chirps of newly hatched yellow chicks
    the pitiful bleating of a lamb as it's being slaughtered
   The tinkle of bells signaling the goatherder's arrival with warm 
foamy milk for the morning coffee
   The melodious sound of mandolins at weddings and Feast Days
        The merry rhythm of an accordion playing the Tarantella
   The nostalgic folk songs sung at family gatherings
        A farmer, in his vineyard, singing an aria from Cavalleria 
Rusticana
   The lusty songs of fishermen as they haul in their nets
    The lonely bray of a donkey echoing through the still night air
   The rattle of cartwheels on the stony road to my grandparents farm
        The load hum of bees gathering honey on a hot, sleepy summer 
day
   A brook, sparkling in the sun, racing its way to the gulf of 
Castallemmare
        The sharp clip-clop of a mule's hooves on cobblestones
   The aweet voice of Sister Caterina as she recites the day's school 
lessons
        The animated stories old Son Nunzio told about his adventures 
at sea

          These are memories of Sicily...the songs of my youth.


   

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