Respiro

È nel silenzio della notte che
il mio respiro si ferma un attimo.
Ascolto il battito del mio cuore
che cerca la tua mano invano.
Ma il tuo cuore non può sentire.
Eppure, ogni giorno,
ti sfioro nel silenzio con la mente.
Ti cerco negli sguardi della gente,
ti cerco nei luoghi
dove tutto è cominciato
come un gioco.
Sì, sono lì,
nella nostra altalena,
dove guardavamo insieme il sole,
dove sognavamo il nostro futuro insieme.
Era il tempo dei nostri sogni.
Adesso volo da sola,
col pensiero di te,
tu che mi sorridi
dal cielo.

Zaira Sellerio

Breath

It is in the silence of the night that
my breathing stops for a moment.
I listen to the beating of my heart
searching for your hand in vain.
But your heart cannot hear.
Yet, every day,
I touch you in the silence with my mind.
I look for you in people’s gazes,
I look for you in the places
where it all began
as a game.
Yes, I am there,
in our swing,
where we watched the sun together,
where we dreamed our future together.
It was the time of our dreams.
Now I fly alone,
with the thought of you,
you smiling at me
from the sky.

Zaira Sellerio

Review

‘Respiro’ by Zaira Sellerio is a poem that touches the deepest chords of the soul, recounting with sweetness and poignancy the bewilderment that follows the loss of a loved one. In a suspended atmosphere, in the silence of the night, the protagonist’s breathing stops for a moment: it is there that the pain becomes more vivid, and the heart searches in vain for a contact that can no longer take place.

A sense of emptiness runs through every verse. There is a love that continues to live in thought, in memories, in shared places – a love that clings to small gestures, to people’s glances, to the swing where they once dreamt of the future together. And this very swing, symbol of innocence and hope, becomes the imaginary place where the protagonist continues to meet those she has lost.

But what makes the poem even more intense is the silent awareness that that loved one, although no longer beside her, watches over her from the sky. This is perceived in the smile that closes the poem: a tender image that consoles and gives meaning to the emptiness. Physical absence does not extinguish emotional presence. There is still a look of love that follows her from above, a bond that overcomes the separation of death.

With a simple and direct style, Sellerio manages to transform pain into poetry, loss into living memory. ‘Respiro’ is a delicate lyric about the love that remains and the invisible thread that continues to unite two souls, even when one of them has flown away.

L’uomo sulla neve – The man in the snow

Some awards for her work

• National Poetry Award “Arturo Massimi” in October 1999 in Mentana – Rome.
• Plaque for the Narrative Award at the International Competition “Pelosa” in Messina, November 2000.
• Poetry Plaque in October 2000 awarded by the Province of Rome.
• International Competition “Antonio de Curtis” in Rome.
• Poets and Society Award, Swiss German Delegation (international competition, honorable mention).
• Unpublished Poetry Award, 5th Edition of the “Premio/l’attualità – Bartolucci”, finalist diploma, October 27, 2001.
• International Artistic-Literary Competition, Antonio de Curtis “Totò”, Rome, October 22, 2002.
• ALIAS (Academy of Italian-Australian Literature and Writers, in collaboration with C.R.A.S.E.S. in Palermo).
• International Literary Competition, 3rd Prize ex aequo for Poetry, October 10, 2003.
• First Poetry Prize at the Gallery “Il Salotto dell’Arte”, Rome, March 22, 2009.
• “Premio Una Vita per la Cultura”, Galleria Salotto dell’Arte, Rome.
• 2014 – IV International Literary Award Europe for the novel (Dal Profondo del Cuore) – May 11, 2014, Lugano.
• II Navarro Prize for the novel (Dal Profondo del Cuore), May 13, 2018, in Sambuca di Sicilia, Sicily.
• Special Award “Lilly Broggi – La Pergola Arte” for the novel (Dal Profondo del Cuore), Florence, October 27, 2018.
• V Prize for the novel (Dal Profondo del Cuore) at Versilia Club’s “Massa Città Fiabesca di Mare e di Marmo”, September 28, 2019.
• 1st International Prize dedicated to the feminine universe “Donne d’Amore” V. Barrett, Poetry Section (Sui Gradini di Piazza di Spagna).
• 1st Prize for the Literature – Novel category for the work (Il Coraggio è Femmina), Rome, May 22, 2023.
• Poetry Award “Ai Tuoi Piedi” in the city of Mercogliano (AV) for the poem (E là incontrai mia Madre), September 8, 2024.
• XI Edition SAN VALENTINO AWARD – City of Atripalda (AV) – Cupid Award World Wide Section – for the poem ‘Ich habe dich geliebt’ (I loved you) 26-27 April 2025