WHAT THE HACIENDA OWNERS OF ECUADOR SAY
They give land back to the campesinos.
Their trout farms, cheese and rose factories
generate jobs for the poor.
Their wage scale is on a par with the Chileans.
Their workers can afford to buy cars.
They put an end to disruptive strikes
by neutralizing extortionist Indian leaders.
They provide free childcare and gynecological services
for female employees.
They undercut the basis for mass emigration.
Their thousands of hectáres of land serve
as a nature preserve for endangered species
like condors and spectacled bears.
They offer safe havens for fourteen species
of humming bird.
They develop new strains of grain and potatoes.
Their mansions safeguard the artistic
patrimony of their country.
They dedicate themselves to public service
supplying the government with senators and presidents.
___________________________________________________
IN REPTILOPIA
I float on my back alongside
a flotilla of painted turtles
the shoreline aglow
with rainbow snakes and leopard frogs
In Reptilopia, tree frogs eat up
black flies and mosquitoes
peepers and bullfrogs play
cumbias, and concerti for double bass
alligators keep out bullies
and busy bodies
____________________________________________________________
SIZE IN SICILY
Sicilians say
everything in America is bigger:
buildings, streets
bars, cars
food portions
even people’s backsides.
But in an outdoor market
in the 10,000 abitanti town
of Capo d’Orlando
there are six-foot zucchinis
yellow peppers the size of footballs
and lemons--
that if they fell on your head—
could cause a concussion.
Copyright © 2012 - 2013 by Gil Fagiani. All rights, including electronic, reserved by the author.
three Eco-poems by
Gil fagiani :
What the Hacienda Owners of Ecuador Say ;
In Reptilopia ; Size in Scily
Gil Fagiani’s latest poetry collections include: A Blanquito in El Barrio (Rain Mountain Press 2009), Chianti in Connecticut (Bordighera Press 2010), and Serfs of Psychiatry (FinishingLine Press 2012). Gil co-curates the monthly open reading of the Italian American Writers’ Association at the Cornelia Street Café, Greenwich Village, Manhattan. He has translated into English, poetry written into Italian, Abruzzese dialect and Spanish. Gil directed a residential program for recovering addicts and alcoholics in Downtown Brooklyn for 21 years. He has read his work widely throughout the Metropolitian Area, and published in many magazines. Additional samples of his poems can be read on ItalianAmericanWriters.com/