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| The Spring of Arethusa, Siracusa |
|
Amuri, amuri, chi m’ha
fattu fari! L’affetto chi mi porti
è granni amuri. Sempri vicinu a tia
vurria girari. ‘N’ura arrassu di tia
non pozzo stari. S’ardi chist’arma, si
consuma e mori. Sai quannu finirà lu
nostru amuri? Quannu ddiventa
cinniri stu cori. |
Amore, amore, che mi
hai fatto fare? L’affetto che mi porti
è un grande amore. Vicino a te vorrei
sempre girare. Mai lontano da te non
posso stare. Arde quest’anima, si
consuma, e muore. Sai quando finirà il
nostro amore? Quando diventa ceneri
questo cuore. |
Love, love, what have you made me do? The tenderness you bring me is a great
love. I would always like to be around you. I can never stay far from you. My soul burns, is consumed, and dies. You know when our love will end? When this heart becomes ashes. |
This song, “Amuri, amuri, chi m’ha fattu fari,” exists in many versions, and here I include the one recorded by Lionardo Vigo in his Raccolta Amplissima di Canti Popolari Siciliani (1870-74).
In the summer of 2021, climate-fueled fires
consumed 150,000 hectares in Italy—370,658 acres—about half of them in Sicily,
including forests, pastures, olive trees, barns, fields, and animals—a loss of
crying proportions. In the beautiful
Sicilian song “Amuri, amuri, chi m’ha
fattu fari!” imagery of burning metaphorically describes the ardor of long and
powerful love. This consuming passion has
a special meaning at a time when the climate crisis threatens Sicilian terrain,
after long months of the pandemic quarantine that has stopped so many people
from traveling from far away.
Themes of transcendent love—love for partners, for the earth, for justice—are the threads that unite the articles here that record interviews I conducted in Sicily in 2018. In my article From Stonewall to Stonewall, I profile an ebullient community LGBTQ+ organization in Siracusa. My article on the winemaker Firriato explores their respect for the Sicilian ecosystem, as they produce all 4.5 million bottles per year with a carbon-zero production plan. As their concept of economic growth integrates eco-sustainability, they develop a counterargument to petrol-normativity. My third article is an outline of the curriculum I brought to an afternoon teaching teen refugees at a center in Siracusa. I presented to them the biography of the anti-mafia activist Peppino Impastato in the graphic novel by Marco Rizzo and Lelio Bonaccorso (BeccoGiallo 2018).