MARIA MIRAGLIA
“Always dear to me was
this lonely hill
and this edge that of a
large part
of the farthest horizon
the sight excludes.
But sitting and gazing,
endless
spaces beyond that and
superhuman
silences, and a deepest
quiet
in my thought I
feign....”
from The Infinite
by G. Leopardi
Giacomo Leopardi
is the greatest Italian poet of the nineteen century as well as one of the most
important figures in world literature. The Infinite is one of his idylls
interpreted and commented over time in different ways.
I wanted to
capture in the image of the edge all that is hidden from the sight and men'
minds. A physical and mental boundary that inhibits the ability to investigate,
to go beyond time and space preventing to feed the desire to grasp, understand
beyond the limits imposed by social conventions or perhaps by the divine will
itself.
There are barriers
which are insurmountable, for which the various branches of the human sciences
have failed to open a passage through. So everything beyond stays blurred by
the fume, the mist of mystery as the idea of life after death. Someone has also
tried to investigate but it just remains the final destination we all shall
reach one day.
A thought we can
clearly infer from some verses by W.D. Yeats, the Irish poet, writer and dramatist who showed a deep interest in mysticism and
spirituality throughout his life:
“I know that I shall
meet my fate
Somewhere among the
clouds above
........
In balance with this
life, this death”
From An Irish Airman Foresees His Death, 1919
Not less complex and in some ways inexplicable
are the human barriers. Those that make us feel prisoners of ourselves, closed
in our ideologies and convictions. The same for which anyone different from us
becomes the enemy to fight, to win. And it's then that the fear of diversity
makes us build walls, not only ideal, to keep him away, to reject him.
The differences of
faiths, of political ideologies, or races and skin colour have so many times
lead to conflicts and wars depriving millions of people to the sacrosanct right
to life.
History is the
perennial witness of how much blood has been shed and you can just give a look
around to get the bitter awareness of how much is still paid because of
barriers that reason, a mutual acceptance or love could easily break down and
in their place build bridges of human solidarity in the intimate conviction of
living in a common home: the world.
And it can’t
surprise anyone that within the same borders, within the same community there
are distinctions for social classes that also create great distances.
The reasons that
alienate men, creating unbridgeable spaces among them, are manifold each of
them deserving a deepening apart to understand them and seek possible remedies.
One of this is homosexuality which is seen differently depending on the level
of the civil rights recognition achieved by the society you aim to examine.
For some time the
issue of sexual diversity, which has forced man and women to live in silence
their most intimate sufferings, has opened to social debate. in the meanwhile,
in many areas of the world, those who do not fall into the gender categories
recognized by the masses are still regarded as individuals apart who are not
granted the right to a full social participation. Their pains can be easily
elicited from the pages of Oscar Wile's De Profundis. A letter written by the
author during his imprisonment in Reading Gaol where he explains the reasons
for 'his conscious giving himself to the ruin'. They, he says, 'are rooted in a noble motivation: love'.
But, in those
days, that love was considered an offence to modesty to bee condemned. A
barrier built by ignorance and hypocrisy that lead the dandy poet to forced
labour, and isolation from the same society that had plaudit him in all the
London theatres and world literary circles.
It is, therefore,
necessary a careful reflection on the many obscure aspects of men’ choices,
their fears, their individual and collective behaviours to try to understand.
And I believe it is mainly the poet’s task to investigate further, to open new
glimpses, to look far, over the visible to question and give answers.
OUR POETRY ARCHIVE
(OPA) has always shown a deep attention and care in the choice of themes to
deal with and a great sense of active participation to a harmonious growth of
the world society. All that through a constructive contribution from writers
and poets who, having been endowed with an unparalleled sensibility, have the
duty to place their spirit of observation and creativity at the service of a
wider audience.
In the past OPA
dealt with some crucial topic such as peace, terrorism and racism, this time
writers and poets have been called, each of them according to their own
sensibility, to express their thoughts, feelings and emotions on anything is
considered to be “Beyond Borders”. A charming theme which has given the chance
to turn the gaze to all that is hidden from the common sight, to discover new
horizons. I believe the new anthology
will offer new ideas for reflection on the individual and collective human
conduct, indicating new visions that will open up to a better way to interpret
life and live interpersonal relationships, to accept diversity, not to fear, a
priori, what is unknown to us.
MARIA MIRAGLIA
From The
Editorial Desk
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