"We Are All Transients in Borderland"
Fiori Picco’s Poetry Anthology
Review by Maria Teresa De Donato
%20(Book%20Cover).jpg)
Following the novels Red Jade – A Life for Freedom, YAO, and The Butterfly Women’s Circle – Mugao and Bhaktu, Fiori Picco presents this literary work in verse, Siamo tutti di
passaggio in terra di frontiera (= We Are All Transients in Borderland).
While her novels had familiarized readers with certain Chinese customs,
traditions, and Red Jade herself, the young Yan Sen of the Yao ethnic group,
the grandmothers Duna, Puma, Cina, and Grisa of the Dulong ethnic group, and
other characters who play important roles in their respective stories, this
poetry anthology offers the author the opportunity to continue her
introspective journey and testimony.
Fiori does so by delving into the memories and experiences she had in
China, especially in Yunnan, the province where she lived for eight years,
which shaped and inspired her, and to which she remains deeply attached.
Experiences she has personally lived or witnessed, reflections on events she
has encountered or learned about, surface in her vivid mind and are translated
into poetic verses. The themes that emerge are varied and encompass the full
spectrum of human existence.
This offers the reader the opportunity not only to learn about certain
realities but also to engage with them and reflect on aspects and situations,
known or completely unknown, that nevertheless belong to the world we live in.
This is, ultimately, the meaning, spirit, and purpose of the title and content
of this work:
“We Are All Transients in Borderland.”
Yes, we are all in the same boat. We must confront the same problems, our
same passions, our talents, our feelings, our emotions, our fears, and even our
most serious shortcomings, or at least those of the society around us and of
which we are all a part.
Ignoring people in need, who may be in dire straits, can have serious
consequences, not only individually, but as a society: this is Fiori’s message
in the poem “Giravi scalzo per l'università” (= “You walked around
the university barefoot”) (Picco, p. 10, 2025), in which a student kills
fellow students who snubbed and mocked him because of his obvious economic and
financial hardship.
Certainly, each person is responsible for their own actions, but the question
we should all ask ourselves is: In certain situations, how responsible have we
been for the reckless choices and behaviors that led to the tragic outcome? To what extent have we contributed? Are we sure we couldn’t have avoided it,
perhaps by lending a hand and contributing, each of us in our own way and
according to our own possibilities, to help those in need and feeling
alienated, lost, snubbed, and ridiculed?
These are the questions that, somewhat subtly, Fiori Picco seeks to raise in
the reader.
Thanks to her particular sensitivity and empathy, the author emphasizes the
precariousness of certain existences that remain completely ignored by society,
drawing inspiration from various situations that, only apparently, seem to have
nothing in common.
One example is a man who left his job in the mine and became the doorman of a
building. While continuing to live a precarious life in an “uncomfortable and
cramped” environment, he can consider himself, paradoxically, lucky because,
although the situation remains far from ideal, he at least sees the light of
day. (The Deserved Place, p. 32)
In addition to individual and social adversities, there are also family ones,
including the sad reality of daughters-in-law who, mistreated by their
mothers-in-law, make themselves invisible to avoid problems and spend their
married life secluded in a room. (p. 12)
These circumstances prompt reflection: young Chinese women condemned to a
life lived in isolation, with de facto nonexistent husbands.
The principle is universal and can be applied to all ethnic groups and cultures
without distinction whatsoever.
Another tragic reality mentioned in the work is that of the “stolen children”
(p. 14), that is, children whose disappearance has never been reported because
their mothers violated the “forced programming” law (p. 14) imposed by
government authorities to limit the number of births.
Children who disappear into “secret traps” (p. 14), effectively, therefore,
before everyone’s eyes, of a society “busy with other matters” and which seems
to have neither time nor attention for the weakest, those who, above all,
should be protected and defended.
The sale of minors to monks is another scourge that perhaps few Westerners are
aware of. This is a practice whereby mothers are guaranteed a lifetime salary
in exchange for selling their children. The child is denied a happy childhood
and the love of a parent, but instead, from a very young age, is forced to
perform the most menial tasks in distant, remote monasteries. (Idle Mother,
p. 17)
The poem in this case refers to the sale of a child to monks, but the problem
is much broader and applies, once again, to many other situations present
everywhere, paradoxically, especially in Western countries.
A dedication to the grandmothers with bound feet, a custom that the Chinese
socialist government thankfully put an end to last century, was a must. Fiori
does so with very delicate poetic verses that, at the same time, remind us of
all of a tragic reality: that to which, for hundreds of years, Chinese women
were forced by their mothers in the hope that, by doing so, they would marry
rich men and secure a comfortable life. (Fairy Shoes, p. 19)
The custom of arranged marriages between female students and farmers is another
aspect that makes one reflect on what can be traditions that, although
scrupulously observed, lead, unfortunately and in the vast majority of cases,
to failure, to a life of unhappiness and resentment due to the “wings clipped
by history.” (My Washing Machine, pp. 22, 23)
Abuse of women is, sad to say, a constant in all societies, as is abuse of
children and the elderly. Faced with such violence and cruelty, there is no
choice but to flee, and this is what all women who, unfortunately, find
themselves living in similar conditions should do. They must flee: before it’s
too late. (Ask for Help, p. 31)
Despite the fact that there is so much suffering in the world, often
caused by human beings themselves and by attitudes and behaviors that reflect
selfish desires and a lack of respect and consideration for others, whoever
they may be, Love is, in fact, the central theme of this poetic anthology.
It is not necessarily the romantic kind, but rather the unconditional kind:
Agape love, that pure feeling that unites two souls who recognize and are in
tune with each other, that driving force that pushes us to do good, and is the
only thing that can give meaning to our lives. This could be, for example, the case of a
friend, a person with whom we have a deep emotional bond, much like the one we
might have with a sister or another family member, and who enriches our lives.
(Karmic Sister, p. 25)
The ability to do good and suffer for the pain of others is, or at least should
be, inherent in every human being, and often in the most tragic moments, it
emerges. This is the feeling many people might have had when remembering, as
Fiori does, the dead child buried under the rubble following the collapse of a
primary school in Sichuan (Dust-Covered Hand, p. 26) or the woman who
saved “a little bundle screaming in the garbage can” by taking it home and
telling everyone it was her baby. (Question of Esteem, p. 43)
Situations like these, which give us confidence that not all is lost but rather
that there is still hope for humanity, are contrasted by diametrically opposed
circumstances that highlight the loss of ethical and moral values from a
young age in pursuit of the futile mirage of a comfortable and even luxurious
life, whatever the cost.
We Are All Transients in Borderland is a work of poetry
in which the author, drawing on events she experienced firsthand, witnessed, or
otherwise learned about in China, achieves a twofold objective: first, she
embarks on an introspective journey through her memories, analyzing how and to
what extent these experiences have affected her, helping her grow, mature, and
develop a greater self-awareness of her place in the world, and thus of her
deepest values and ideals.
Second, through her memories and the resulting analysis of these events, Fiori
encourages the reader to reflect and become aware of certain realities. She invites them, in a subtle yet incisive
manner, to take action, to do good for all, and to become an integral part of
what we all hope for: a Great and Profound Change, a Spiritual Awakening that
works toward the creation of a Better World.
We are all brothers and sisters, regardless of our physical features. What unites us is our humanity, made up of
joys and sorrows, sudden and unexpected ups and downs, losses and new
encounters that are part of Change, the only true constant in Life.
A simple, very enjoyable, and equally profound read that I recommend to
everyone.