Adela 1944

August 18, 1990
to Giorgio de Chirico*

CHIRICO
I was brought up
in the piazza
among the aging marble
sleeping romanesque sculptures
train waiting departing
from the station
I used to stand as a child
by the wooden bridge
filling up
from the black coal smoke
while manikins in the
distance
formed mathematical equations
enigmas next to triangles
T squares & protractors
configuring metaphysical symbols
I tasted the round sweet chestnut bread
seasoned with rosemary
on the crust
seeing shadows elongating
climbing up slowly
cutting the stones
with the unique light
indigenous to tuscany
but I was born
in another land
in the cruel snow
the mind
did not want to remember

* Girogio de Chirico (1888-1978) – Italian Painter