University student – Simone Cristicchi

 

University student

Sad and lonely in your damp little bedroom

You revise for your Philosophy class well

And in the morning you’re already lent on your desktop

And at night you find yourself staring at the ceiling

Daddy will send the money to pay the rent

 

Do you remember the coach slowly passing by, under Sicily’s sizzling sun?

Prickly pears growing untidily on the edge of the streets

Lizards gone wild, few houses…

Do you remember that sweet scent of village and fresh-baked bread?

Torrid afternoons, the square by the town hall, the Sundays

And the boundless sea opening wide from the balcony of your bedroom

 

You’re thinking back to the ridings uphill on your bicycle to reach the body of a kid

To the shrine of the Virgin Mary on top of the mountain, how beautiful!

All the lit candles of a village walking in procession, drops of sweat on your forehead

Smell of Marseilles soap and fresh sheets throughout summer

Black eyes of a lady standing on the stairs, the eyes of your mother’s

 

University student

Sad and lonely in your damp little bedroom

You revise for your Philosophy class well

And in the morning you’re already lent on your desktop

And at night you find yourself staring at the ceiling

Daddy will send the money to pay the rent

 

Student inside an underground train car, you’ve got to get off, the next one is your stop!

Books, photocopies and underlined notes under your arm

And a booklet where you collect your exam grades

This life made of classes and lecturers not in, endless queues to have your papers done

Getting the best mark to feel happier, but lonely without your friends…

Carmelo is in Milan in a School of Management, Fabiana and Sara Literature course in Archaeology

And then Concetta studying as a veterinary in Perugia,

Whereas Ilaria is taking Law and Marco is pushing cocaine

And they’ll put him inside one day, your boyfriend is studying Architecture and meanwhile

Spends his day giving change from a till in a supermarket in the city…

 

University student

Sad and lonely in your damp little bedroom

You revise for your Philosophy class well

And in the morning you’re already lent on your desktop

And at night you find yourself staring at the ceiling

Daddy will send the money to pay the rent

 

University student

You’re touching your womb gently

There’s good news within, due to be born in spring to keep you company

Life is not in a  Philosophy book

And at night you find yourself thinking about your future

And your serenity seems nearer.