GILAPPY'S PRAYER
O lord of all living things,
direct that
the man who is my master
be as faithful to other men
as I am faithful to him;
O lord of all living things
rule that as I am truly a dog
that he truly be a man.
SALUTE TO BLACK-JACK
On a day of budding spring
you went away
merry companion
of a time of intense loves
and of sudden solitude.
You brought to this abode
the smile of festive moments
which sad absences denied
and I saw deep in your eyes
the revelation of vast oceans and lands,
You were the link
between me and the scents of the seasons,
You
the companion of long evenings
of lonely melancholy
spent in your pursuit,
always on the move below the horizon
always changing color,
and you bathed in and were fond of
the verdant hedges
or rolling and tumbling on the ground,
you would tell me that it's always beautiful to live
that life itself is the important thing.
You, restless little spirit,
absorbed the air of my home
like a plant
and you accepted the long
evenings of winter with your warm presence
for your friend living his days,
a son absorbed in thoughts
of his mother far away.
You sensed suddenly
the sting of old age,
when the sight of death
fell upon the house
and without complaint you expired
in a sheltered corner knowing
that your friend was near.
And now little soul without eternity
sleep forever beneath the pine
of a desolate house,
the only haven of stillness left
by one who too early went away
as you....
on a day of budding spring.
- Publius Ovidius Nasonem -
� 2001 Italian Opera Company, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
All rights reserved.