Ciao Federico

Famous as the showman of the grotesque,
You were the eye of lonely nights
And the unfulfilled provincial dreams
You never quite left behind for Roma.

A Catholic childhood could not erase
Your empathy for outcasts
And empty streets where escaped horses
Run in sleeping towns.

Poet of clowns and the little cabaret
Artistes who live on the road
And out of suitcases
And never make it to the big time.

For me, you were the titular author
Of that autmn evening when I feasted
With amateur actors in a restaurant
At a railway crossing near Ferrara.

After a ten-course fish banguet, the plump cook-
Hand-rolled cigarette glued to his lip
And wearing a newspaper chef's hat-
Danced with the mayor's bean-pole chauffeur.

A scene from your native Emilia Romagna
In a file you never made.
A night of wine, food, song, laughter
And friendship shared with strangers.

How we delayed our goodnights-
At the table-caiao!
At the tops of the stairs-ciao!
At the bottom of the stairs-ciao!

In the front doorway- ciao!
In the foggy dark as a train flashed by0 ciao!
By the fleet of little cars that had
Transported us to that remote location- cia!

At the entrance of the Railway Hotel
Where our hosts returned us- ciao!
Ciao, Federico. Ciao, maestro.
Grazie per tutti.


- JAME KELLER

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I just wanted to say thank you for this lovely poem and I hope friendship will be fruitful for all... =)

Thank you new found neighbors!