It was all go, ho, ho at Bagni di Lucca Villa as our little town celebrated its contribution to the Valle di natale events. The difficult times in past Christmases due to the pandemic seem far away although we have to be reminded that COVID is still very much with us. A schoolteacher friend has had to stay indoors with the dreaded lurgy and tells me that her school is rife with it, although, clearly not on the same scale as that horrible time in 2020 when we were not even allowed to venture into the adjoining borough without being being arrested.
All that was forgotten in the happy melee of Christmassy stalls from our local traders, from Santa’s audience chamber in the town hall, from the cuddly pack of alpacas, from the vin brulé and pancakes, from the angels on stilts and from the all around smiles and greetings from a happy crowd.
Yet there was a time for reflection, for remembering those who were with us last year and who, so sadly, are no longer with us this year. Roberto Raggianti led a candle-flecked tribute to Bagni di Lucca’s pro-loco president Valerio Ceccarelli who left our earthly sphere just a few days ago.
One of Valerio’s poems was read and a promise made among our band of poets to meet up in the New Year for an evening dedicated to Valerio’s memory and especially his finely delicate poetry which brings to my mind echoes of the Tarquinian poet Vincenzo Cardarelli.
I met up with Valerio’s remaining son. (His other son had tragically died in a road accident in 2009). Since Paolo said what I wrote about his dad summed him up well I am including it in this post.
“Casinò
La vita è come un gioco di scacchi.
Questo lo sappiamo
Eppure quante mosse sbagliate
Si fanno.
Guardiamo attorno e perdiamo un pezzo dopo l’altro.
Tu Valerio eri un alfiere per noi:
Portavi lo striscione per la nostra comunità.
Senza affanno ti muovevi con classe, eleganza.
Portavi a fine le nostre partite con onore.
Amico con nobile visione
Ragruppavi pittori, scrittori, fotografi, campioni, visionari, pensatori sotto le tue ali
Nella tua casa preferita
il casinò,
il nido eccelso del gioco di vita.
Eppure, tra le sue pareti celesti,
I suoi gigli miriadi,
l’oro delle sue cornici
riflessi negli specchi argentati
hai deciso di fare un ultimo gioco,
Un gioco che tutti noi dobbiamo perdere:
Contro il cavaliere nero,
Contro gli angeli della notte,
Contro la legge della nostra terra.
Un ultimo gioco che solo nel nostro cuore hai vinto con l’amore che non conosce confini, che vince l’odio, che riscalda la nostra vita, che non ti farà mai scordare.”
(Literal English translation follows):
Casinò
Life is like a game of chess.
We know this
Yet how many wrong moves we make.
We look around and lose one piece after another.
You Valerio were a standard bearer for us:
You carried the banner for our community.
Without worry you moved with class, elegance.
You finished our games with honour.
Friend with noble vision
You gathered painters, writers, photographers, champions, visionaries, thinkers under your wings
In your favorite home
the Casinò,
the sublime nest of the game of life.
Yet, within its celestial walls,
Its myriad lilies,
the gold of its frames
reflected in the silver mirrors
you decided to play one last game,
A game we all have to lose:
Against the black knight,
Against the angels of the night,
Against the law of our land.
A last game that only in our hearts you won with the love that knows no boundaries,
that conquers hate,
that warms our lives,
that will never let you be forgotten”
