In the poem “Hopefully flying home”, originally written in Italian, my father focuses on the concepts of separation and loss perceived by an immigrant.
He expresses the feelings of an immigrant son returning to his dying father.
His “looking up” and “ looking down” on the plane journey symbolize death and life and the poet’s uncertainty of finding his father still alive.
The concept of death is dealt with serenity and strength.
Obviously the translation has no poetic value, but I’d like to share the English version of the poem with you so it can reach as many people as possible. I hold family bonds the most precious treasures to cherish.
It was suddenly dark and
the rain was pelting down.
Waiting for more than an hour,
sitting in a jet plane,
I saw only blinding lightning through the window.
When a sudden break in the clouds peeped out,
When a sudden break in the clouds peeped out,
the jet plane took off.
For eight long hours I remained
between heaven and earth
at boundless height,
and, when I was torn apart by doubt,
I wished the jet plane flew higher and higher
to reach up to my dear father's soul.
But an ineffable eagerness
drove me to hope
that at my arrival
his heart would still beat.
Looking up at the sky
I was blinded
by falling unlit stars.
Secular seemed to me that night
and as it ended
the stars vanished,
whilst the grey sky appeared
and the faraway dawn seemed so feeble.
The emerging sun
inspired me with strength and courage
and heralded the landing.
Looking down I saw my ancestral land.
In the same moment as I arrived home
my beloved father exhaled the last breath.
Cold tears poured down his unaffected face
and his lips still warm I kissed.
I was tempted to massage his chest
to stimulate his heart,
but I kept from doing it
for he had found serenity.
Dante Manganelli
