REMEMBER

 

Each day I see your proud

stare from the carved frame

above the stairs

you wear the ostentatious

plumed hat of

the Italian Bersaglieri

and although it

was only national service

you had your share

of war later

an enemy alien

interned in the country

where you chose to settle.

 

But when the twelfth regiment

discharged you in 1931

together with your

picture they gave you

a small bronze medal

inscribed with a few words

would it surprise you

to know I carry it everywhere?

‘Ricordati che sei stato Bersagliere’

‘Remember that you have been

a Bersagliere.’

 

 

(c) David Subacchi.2012