La Maggiolata


The glowing full moon of a spring evening
Could get me in the full mood for singing
Under supple light fit to see the breeze
And feel the view of the heavenly fields
There's a pattern of tomorrow watching
Across the lake of hills and cool air spanning

Captured purely for pleasure a moment's life
Then dissected using a sharpened knife
For the favour of critics and cousins
Come to savour some authenticity
The beast of burden strolls without strife
The stone pavings where one might find a wife

Come si chiama? Doors open in hope
To see how everything stands on a slope
The reserved context of your yearning frame
Is it Susanna, or maybe Stella?
Dove andiamo? We cannot elope
For the consequence with which we won't cope

It was when Alex Perpich came to play
The town ended a whole new summer's day
Filling a church with people and music
If fond memories needed a soundtrack
It was the fancy dress parade in May
When a young girl threw a flower my way

There they are living for that one moment
Two angels who made my sons a present
When the heat determines the perfection
Of the qualities on which art depends
The merger of practice and sentiment
The fabulous mood that we call pleasant

Lucignano 23 4 2007