«“OCCHI, SOGNI, LABBRA, E LA NOTTE TRASCORRE…” – Ezra Pound, Campagna italiana
Occhi, sogni, labbra – e le parole li intrappolano se li lasciamo esposti alla lingua impietosa della mente Che altro dire fare se non cantare Sì! Sì! E lasciare che la pura estasi sia sovrana». (Lawrence Ferlinghetti, da Scoppi urla risate, trad. it. di Damiano Abeni, SUR, Roma 2019, p. 72).
La scomparsa di un poeta forse può essere ricordata con una poesia che testimoni una parola senza presa fissa sul reale, che può solo sfiorare, come una carezza. Scomparsa di chi sa la scomparsa, estasi di un io che si scompone “oltre il paesaggio”, come in Zanzotto.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti è morto il 22 febbraio a 101 anni. Una vita di passaggio tra lingue, culture, arte e sessualità, come scrittore, poeta, editore e libraio. Nato a Yonkers e madrelingua francese, emigrato con la zia a New York a cinque anni, Ferlinghetti è stato un assimilatore e rielaboratore attento, un costruttore di ponti, diremmo oggi.
Animatore della vita culturale di San Francisco fin dal dopoguerra, con la sua “City Lights”, la prima libreria americana ad avere una sezione di libri per gay e lesbiche, Ferlinghetti espande tutta la gioia di un’esistenza guidata da letture appassionate e da scorribande anarco-estatiche nel suo recente libro autobiografico Little Boy, edito in Italia da Clichy nel 2019. Alla libreria “City Lights”, fra l’altro, Bukowski ha presentato per la prima volta il suo Erections, Eiaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness (il titolo italiano, Storie di ordinaria follia, sarà banalmente incompleto).
Altro luogo importante è il capanno di Ferlinghetti a Big Sur, luogo californiano dove Jack Kerouac si rifugia dopo aver scritto On the Road. Kerouac traccerà un memorabile quadro della comunità di meditanti ed estatici che si muove accanto al capanno nel romanzo Big Sur (1962). Sono cosa nota, inoltre, sempre sul lato beat generation, l’arresto e il processo per oscenità subiti da Ferlinghetti per aver pubblicato Howl and Other Poems di Allen Ginsberg (1956).
Meno noto, almeno in Italia, è il poema scritto da Ferlinghetti dopo l’assassinio di Harvey Milk, ovvero An Elegy to Dispel Gloom. After the Assassinations of Mayor George Moscone of San Francisco and City Supervisor Harvey Milk November 27, 1978, che riportiamo qui integralmente, a testimonianza di un impegno non solo letterario:
Let us not sit upon the ground
and tell sad stories
of the death of sanity.
Two humans made of flesh
are meshed in death
and no more need be said.
It is pure vanity
to think that all humanity
be bathed in red
because one young mad man
one so bad man
lost his head.
The force that through the red fuze
drove the bullet
does not drive everyone
through the City of Saint Francis
where there’s a breathless hush
in the air today
a hush at City Hall
and a hush at the Hall of Justice
a hush in Saint Francis Wood
where no bird tries to sing
a hush on the Great Highway
and in the great harbor
upon the great ships
and on the Embarcadero
from the Mission Rock
to the Eagle Cafe
a hush on the great red bridge
a hush in the Outer Mission
and at Hunter’s Point
a hush at a hot potato stand on Pier 39
and a hush at the People’s Temple
tries its wings
a hush and a weeping
at the Convent of the Sacred Heart
on Upper Broadway
a hush upon the fleshpots
of Lower Broadway
a pall upon the punk rock
at Mabuhay Gardens
and upon the cafes and bookstores
of old North Beach
a hush upon the landscape
of the still wild West
where two sweet dudes are dead
and no more need be said.
Do not sit upon the ground and speak
of other senseless murderings
or worse disasters waiting
in the wings.
Do not sit upon the ground and talk
of the death of things beyond
these sad sad happenings.
Such men as these do rise above
our worst imaginings.
827964 892274Having read this I thought it was quite informative. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this write-up together. I once once again find myself spending way to significantly time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worth it! 115774
532242 917404There is noticeably a whole lot to know about this. I believe you produced some good points in features also. 848775
Wow, superb weblog format! How long have you ever
been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The total glance of your web site is excellent, as smartly as
the content material!
This article presents clear idea designed for the new people of blogging, that really how to do blogging.
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now
each time a comment is added I get three emails with the
same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service?
Thanks a lot!
I know this web site presents quality depending content and additional stuff, is there any
other web page which provides these kinds of things in quality?
I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your sites really
nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back later.
All the best
I every time spent my half an hour to read this webpage’s content daily along with a cup of
coffee.
Your method of explaining the whole thing in this paragraph is really pleasant, all can simply understand
it, Thanks a lot.
Definitely believe that that you stated. Your
favorite reason appeared to be at the internet the simplest thing
to understand of. I say to you, I definitely get irked whilst other people think about worries that they just do not know about.
You controlled to hit the nail upon the top and outlined out
the entire thing without having side effect , other folks can take a signal.
Will probably be again to get more. Thanks
I am sure this piece of writing has touched all the internet
viewers, its really really nice piece of writing on building up new weblog.
What’s up to every , since I am in fact keen of reading
this weblog’s post to be updated daily. It contains
fastidious information.
Great post! We will be linking to this great article on our site.
Keep up the great writing.
I was able to find good info from your articles.
I blog frequently and I seriously appreciate your information. This great article has truly peaked my interest.
I am going to book mark your blog and keep checking for
new information about once per week. I opted in for your RSS feed as well.
407814 407036I like what you guys are up too. Such smart function and reporting! Carry on the superb works guys I?ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my internet website 366531
You should take part in a contest for one of the best websites on the internet.
I am going to recommend this site!
Hello! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick
shout out and say I genuinely enjoy reading your articles.
Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same subjects?
Many thanks!
My family all the time say that I am killing my time
here at net, however I know I am getting knowledge all the
time by reading such fastidious content.
Undeniably imagine that which you said. Your favourite reason seemed to be at the internet the easiest thing to be aware of.
I say to you, I certainly get irked while folks consider concerns that they just do not recognize about.
You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also defined
out the whole thing with no need side-effects , people can take a signal.
Will likely be again to get more. Thanks
I enjoy looking through an article that can make people think.
Also, thank you for allowing for me to comment!
Remarkable! Its genuinely remarkable post, I have got much clear idea
about from this post.
I like your website content, its so creative and unique, thanks for sharing this good content with us.
It’s great that you are getting thoughts from this article as well as from our dialogue made here.
Howdy! Someone in my Myspace group shared this website with us so I
came to give it a look. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to
my followers! Fantastic blog and superb design.
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme.
Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for
you? Plz answer back as I’m looking to construct my own blog
and would like to find out where u got this from. kudos
I am really impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your weblog.
Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself?
Either way keep up the excellent quality writing, it’s
rare to see a nice blog like this one today.
Hi, Neat post. There’s a problem with your site in web explorer, could check
this? IE still is the market leader and a large element
of other folks will miss your wonderful writing due to this problem.
Excellent post. Keep writing such kind of info on your blog.
Im really impressed by your blog.
Hi there, You’ve performed an excellent job. I will definitely digg it and in my view recommend to my friends.
I’m sure they’ll be benefited from this website.
Hi, I log on to your blogs daily. Your writing style is awesome, keep it up!
474340 572815Paris Hilton: So lovely spending time with Manny and h 356547
145677 888298Yay google is my world beater helped me to discover this fantastic web web site ! . 275864
42675 527903Wow, incredible blog format! How lengthy have you been blogging for? you make running a blog glance easy. The full glance of your internet site is wonderful, as smartly the content material! 980886