Treasure

We are delighted to hear poet Rachel Flint read her poem ‘Treasure’, published in the anthology And The Stones Fell Open: A Leeds Poetry Anthology available here .  In an earlier conversation with LCI Director, Dr Helen Reid, Rachel talked about her inspiration for this poem:   “The poem is a realistic portrait of two […]

We are delighted to hear poet Rachel Flint read her poem ‘Treasure’, published in the anthology And The Stones Fell Open: A Leeds Poetry Anthology available here .  In an earlier conversation with LCI Director, Dr Helen Reid, Rachel talked about her inspiration for this poem:
https://lcileeds.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Rachel-Flint-Treasure.wav

 

“The poem is a realistic portrait of two people, my carers Guilia and Roberta who are two very kind people from Sicily. Roberta came to the UK first, and Guilia came a year later because she missed her sister. They are lovely, warm people; tactile, sweet and kind natured. It upset me to see that when the word Brexit came up, they were worried and feared being kicked out of the country. It broke my heart because carers are seen as low skilled and not valued. How can we justify seeing carers like this? The covid crisis has highlighted the importance of carers and how skilled they are in their role. It is about time this was recognised.

Roberta translated the poem into Italian and we sent it to her mother. I have had messages from her mother and aunties about the poem which is lovely.”

 

Here’s a recording of Roberta reading ‘Tesoro’, her own translation of ‘Treasure’.
https://lcileeds.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Rachel-Flint-Treasure-Italian-Version-1.mp3

 

Tesoro

 

Per Giulia e Roberta

 

Non c’è spazio per la timidezza

Quando si incontra la propria badante.

Loro vedono le tue nudità,

I capelli scompigliati al mattino, l’intimo sporco, le giornate comode a casa.

Una vita senza filtri.

Ciò che è solitamente privato.

 

La gentilezza è oro, la dignitá è sacra.

Trovo il mio tesoro in delle gentili voci Siciliane

“Buongiorno tesoro, come hai dormito?”

Il sole entra all’improvviso nella stanza,

la rende casa, la rende umana.

 

Leeds le ha accolte,

Dato loro opportunità, amore e accettazione.

Nonostante desiderino le nespole,

Loro non vorrebbero essere da nessuna altra parte.

Solo quando Bre*it è menzionata

Un’oscura nuvola attraversa I loro volti.

 

Tradotto da Roberta, dalle parole di Rachel Flint