Vittorio Volpi
Harvest time
A mason’s level perfectly horizontal between me and the ripe wheat: in a few days, it will be reaped. The sun ripened it, just as it did us, day by day. I feel ‘live-in’ with the vines, the plant, the grass, the rocks and the sun that never stands still: everything is interpenetrating, consubstantial while … Read more
Original Self
I was looking at this picture repeatedly and didn’t understand why or what it was about that attracted me. Indeed, the pappi whitening the leaves of the poplars and the grass of the meadow like a second snowfall is not a sight one sees every day. Perhaps it was the particular morning light that leaves … Read more
Una rosa sul mio percorso
In un giorno qualsiasi, di un anno qualsiasi ho incontrato una rosa, sbocciata spontaneamente. Il colore è sorprendete in tutto quel verde, non puoi non notarla. Non è come noi che abbiamo uno scopo per tutto ciò che facciamo: lei sarebbe sbocciata comunque, non aspettava me in particolare: lei fa la sua vita. Sono i … Read more
When I was 16yo
A memory from when I was 16. I don’t know if it’s a poem; it’s one word after another (written in 2013). I have time for others while I think about what to do for later. What jumps out at me, I do, driven by a spring that throws me into the water. I … Read more
Paesaggio bucolico
Appena veduti i vignaioli, ero indeciso se scattarmi la foto. Poi ho sentito una pressione interiore che mi ha spinto a preparate macchina e cavalletto. Ero ancora in tempo a scattare semplicemente la foto al paesaggio. Ma di nuovo da sole le mani si sono mosse a togliermi giubbetto e pantaloni. E ho scattato: avevo … Read more
Green pass
Tutta questa luce, tutto questo sereno, la limpidezza dell’aria fanno trionfare il verde delle querce e dei cipressi, di contro al terso azzurro del cielo. C’è un’evidenza immanente, una gloria (δόξα direbbero i testi delle liturgie pasquali), una forza invincibile e pacifica che governa tutto.
La luce accende il mondo
Il sole è appena sorto. C’è ancora un fresco venticello che accarezza le canne e i rami del pioppo. Le foglie sono dello stesso colore che avevano in autunno: qualcosa continua, si riprende un discorso interrotto. Contemplo la foto e la mente si riempie delle cose che vedo: non sono ancora pensieri, men che meno … Read more
Voglia di muoversi
Dopo le ultime piogge, una manna per la campagna, con la neve che di nuovo è caduta bassa (700m.) m’è ritornata la voglia di uscire di muovermi e vedermi e fissarmi nella natura. Ormai i primi pruni hanno perso i loro fiori bianchi e rosa, una festa per gli occhi, e anche i peschi stanno … Read more
First and last snow
Today February 15, is the patronal feast day of Brescia. Faustino and Giovita, warrior saints from the second century AD, are celebrated. During the siege of the Lombards in Brescia (VII century), they appeared on the city’s walls and defended it. A proverb says that San Faustino is the last merchant of snow. And just … Read more
Hazelnut catkins
It’s the 1st of February, and spring is suddenly here. The sun is warm, the air is fresh, and a gentle breeze. Everything is clear. The snow on the peaks is receding. I feel as if I am being reborn. And what wonder was seeing the first hazelnut catkins this morning, wandering around the Reserve! … Read more
Me and the fog
Mixing two excellent readings from my student days: Gorilla in the Mist and The Naked Ape. I am not a polar bear, nor do I dive into the Neva on New Year’s Eve. It is a knowledge to feel the moisture in the air, the cold of winter, on your skin. Despite the climate, I … Read more
The Magic of Light
What is the light that makes me transparent that illuminates everything I know that it goes through even the stone and makes it precious alabaster. Light also goes inside us; it flows along with the atoms, lighting up the photons. Light doesn’t weigh. I don’t know how much its quantum is. It scrutinizes our souls. … Read more
The old cherry tree
A few days ago, I took this photograph of myself. I just liked it. Now that Christmas and the New Year are approaching, I can see more. And I understand the ritual of the upcoming holidays. The cherry tree has lost all its leaves: it is naked like me. But after Christmas and New Year, … Read more
A red carpet made especially for me?
Nature rewards me: it’s true, it’s just a little play of mine, things that come to me. I can’t read Nature’s thoughts, that is, if she has prepared this red carpet because she was waiting for me. I am sure that Nature does not have the same categories as I do, and I am pushing … Read more
Everything’s gold
In autumn, everything is golden. The light that filters through the leaves is a joy to the eyes. The vines, after giving us the sweet bunches, now give us their colours. And these mulberry trees, now that there are no more silkworms, after giving us shade in summer, now give us this precious light; a … Read more
Autumn light
Our words carve out boundaries between one thing and another of what we see. We name this and that: the light, the leaves, the pond. We add with our adjectives something only human, but indifferent to nature: there is a “naked” man! Nature has no thoughts: it has other ways of coordinating, of not bumping … Read more
El natural – Padua 1530
In 1529-33 Angelo Beolco (aka Ruzante) published the comedy “La moschetta” in Paduan dialect. In the appendix there is an “Egloga” where the author summarizes the plot and the message of the comedy (= the importance of being natural, keeping in mind that “la natura” and “lo natural” still designate the female and male sexual … Read more
Fascinated by light
As the saying goes: nature is nurture. I feel attracted to light and I don’t know why. I know that there is something to be discovered, something that comes to me directly without the mediation & meditations of the mind. But all I have to do is look and I feel satiated, satisfied, filled with … Read more
Nudity is beyond reproach
Nudity is beyond reproach This morning I saw a young lady in a flashy dress, with a lot of make-up, high heels and the movements of someone who knows what she’s doing. All OK. I would have already forgotten about it if it weren’t for the fact that the practice of nudism makes me constantly … Read more
Osmosis of difference – 2
As animals, we are very different from plants. Yet we love the green expanses of meadows, the great forests of beech or fir; we even like the grass or moss along the paths that invite us to walk barefoot (if not bare-skin). Something attracts us to nature, and it’s something we don’t have: the peaceful … Read more
Osmosis of difference
I was struck by this scene on the way out this morning. I’ve walked past it a thousand times: the light was probably different. I was struck by the oval lit by the first sun and the black of the foliage of neighbouring plants against the light. In the past few days, I have been … Read more
Vittorio’s new clothes
I liked the framing, the arrangement of the shapes, the colours. I could never have suspected an action on the part of the oak. Later I saw the shot on the monitor, and something attracted me, something very vague. I the picture, again and again. Until I saw myself dressed by shadow: the oak had … Read more
