The Wind Through The Leaves - by Elisabetta Fioritti
Review
by Maria Teresa De Donato
Having had the opportunity to read and review her two novels, L'odore dei giorni (E. Fioritti, 2016, Teke Editore) (= The Scent of the Days) and Vite convergenti (E. Fioritti, 2021, Bertoni Editore) (= Converging Lives), I had already realized the remarkable sensitivity and empathy of Elisabetta Fioritti, of her positive attitude towards Life, of her extraordinary ability to love.
In The
Wind Through The Leaves (= Il vento tra le foglie), however, Elizabetta
reaches new heights and depths. If, in fact, the narrative style of the novels
was bound to grammatical and syntactic rules, these barriers are overcome in
the poetic edition whose verses, free from any structural and expressive
constraints, allow the author both the flight of fancy and the total immersion
in the depths of one's soul.
With this collection,
Elisabetta, therefore, comes out into the open: she shows herself naked to her
interlocutor, revealing candidly, with an open heart and in a completely
uninhibited manner, her own vulnerability as a woman, as a wife, as a mother,
as a daughter, and above all as a Human Being, her uncertainties, her fears,
the questions she cannot answer, her existential anguish and at the same time
her values, her joy of living and her hope for a better World.
Some of her questions
haunt her mind. Due to her sensitive soul and depth of thought, these are
questions that she always asked herself. However, now, with the passing of time
and the consequent increase in maturity and awareness, these questions acquire
new meanings, making her anxious to find adequate answers. The time of
carefreeness, cheerfulness, and the 'unbearable lightness of being' has
vanished, and she has given way to what often appears as the harsh reality of
our days as she continues to meditate on the meaning of Life:
What's
left then
...
after
the noise,
after
the words,
the
right ones and the wrong ones.
...
What
remains at night
[when]
...
...
the uncertainties
have
turned off every light.
If
not holding each other’s hands. (Fioritti, 2023, p. 11)
What
are we
after
all this time
...
We
resist
To
the fast ongoing story
And
it overwhelms us. (p. 16)
...
but
all our senses
where
will they go
when
everything is done
when
the abyss will cover
the
earth
and
the
sun, the snow, the sea, the wind
the
stars
will
vanish? (p. 23)
Love, affection, and
faith come to her aid and support her in moments of uncertainty and fear when
the Void seems to grip her. Faith, though being a valid and often an irreplaceable
tool of support during the storms and adversities that Life presents us with,
is unable to prevent moments of confusion and despair as Time inexorably
advances and does not even provide adequate explanations for the reason for the
dramatic circumstances which all humanity witnesses helplessly and heartbroken:
...
No
more bomb thunder
to
upset your innocent
sleep.
...
Today,
every man is
freed
from
a black page of history.
...
Every
house rebuilds
the
utopia of peace.
...
to
forget
the
perverse madness of evil. (p. 21)
How can I talk about love
if
before the eyes
I
have the horror of innocent deaths
hungry
children
imprisoned
angels
humiliated
and offended women
forgotten
old people (p. 21)
...
However, hope and faith
in a better World remain alive, acting, in some way, as a lifesaver in an open
and stormy sea:
Getting
lost
In
this boundless sky
beyond
time
...
Towards
a world that
through
the darkness
is
reborn alive.
And
I with it. (p. 22)
...
away
from the voids and silences
of
a spring that is reborn.
Inside
new loves
and
newborn babies.
...
Flowing
sea...
...
And
on the trail of gold
...
paint
the tumultuous dance
of
the lost soul. (p. 25)
The swing of the seasons
and their respective landscapes and colors is accompanied by the memories and
consequent states of mind associated with them. The sea, but also the land,
especially that of Apulia, with its blue sky and its warm summer sun, cheer up
the Author's heart thanks to the memories of her carefree childhood and
adolescence and the love of her family of origin.
While the mind wanders
through the memories of those who are no longer physically there but who will
never abandon us, the 'hand' and the heart hold tight to the family that the
Author has created for herself and for which it is worth living and rejoice,
regardless of the gray hairs and the distances that separate parents and
children.
Although the day offers
her its gifts, it is, however, the night that instills peace and tranquility,
allowing her thoughts, fears, and anxieties to calm down:
I
love the night
The
calm
The
symphony of breaths
The
Sleeping humanity
the
suspension of time.
...
And
there, in infinite time,
a
rare peace
descends
into my heart. (p. 17)
Hence, The Wind Through The Leaves is a beautiful poetic collection full of
feeling, depth of thought, and sharing of moods, whose reading I recommend to
everyone.
In it, Elisabetta
Fioritti manifests all her sensitivity and ability of expression by giving
voice to that Scream of Pain and that Cry for Peace that is rising like a
single chorus from all Humanity:
Your pain
hurts me
...
I suffer because of your wounds
...
I am a fragile creature
and I feel the pain of the world.
But also love,
I feel the love,
within
on tiptoe
at the heart of the universe. (p. 59)
