{"id":235372,"date":"2025-06-01T15:34:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T15:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/respiro\/"},"modified":"2025-06-03T08:32:30","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T08:32:30","slug":"breath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/breath\/","title":{"rendered":"Respiro – Breath"},"content":{"rendered":"

Respiro<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u00c8 nel silenzio della notte che
\nil mio respiro si ferma un attimo.
\nAscolto il battito del mio cuore
\nche cerca la tua mano invano.
\nMa il tuo cuore non pu\u00f2 sentire.
\nEppure, ogni giorno,
\nti sfioro nel silenzio con la mente.
\nTi cerco negli sguardi della gente,
\nti cerco nei luoghi
\ndove tutto \u00e8 cominciato
\ncome un gioco.
\nS\u00ec, sono l\u00ec,
\nnella nostra altalena,
\ndove guardavamo insieme il sole,
\ndove sognavamo il nostro futuro insieme.
\nEra il tempo dei nostri sogni.
\nAdesso volo da sola,
\ncol pensiero di te,
\ntu che mi sorridi
\ndal cielo.<\/p>\n

Zaira Sellerio<\/p>\n

Breath<\/span><\/h1>\n

It is in the silence of the night that
\nmy breathing stops for a moment.
\nI listen to the beating of my heart
\nsearching for your hand in vain.
\nBut your heart cannot hear.
\nYet, every day,
\nI touch you in the silence with my mind.
\nI look for you in people’s gazes,
\nI look for you in the places
\nwhere it all began
\nas a game.
\nYes, I am there,
\nin our swing,
\nwhere we watched the sun together,
\nwhere we dreamed our future together.
\nIt was the time of our dreams.
\nNow I fly alone,
\nwith the thought of you,
\nyou smiling at me
\nfrom the sky.<\/p>\n

Zaira Sellerio<\/p>\n

\"Sad
Sad girl Image by Manfred Antranias Zimmer from Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Review<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u2018Respiro<\/em>\u2019 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

L\u2019uomo sulla neve – The man in the snow<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Some awards for her work<\/span><\/h2>\n
    \n
  • National Poetry Award\u00a0\u201cArturo Massimi\u201d<\/em>\u00a0in October 1999 in Mentana \u2013 Rome.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Plaque for the Narrative Award at the International Competition\u00a0\u201cPelosa\u201d<\/em>\u00a0in Messina, November 2000.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Poetry Plaque in October 2000 awarded by the Province of Rome.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • International Competition\u00a0\u201cAntonio de Curtis\u201d<\/em>\u00a0in Rome.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Poets and Society Award, Swiss German Delegation (international competition, honorable mention).<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Unpublished Poetry Award, 5th Edition of the\u00a0\u201cPremio\/l\u2019attualit\u00e0 \u2013 Bartolucci\u201d<\/em>, finalist diploma, October 27, 2001.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • International Artistic-Literary Competition,\u00a0Antonio de Curtis \u201cTot\u00f2\u201d<\/em>, Rome, October 22, 2002.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • ALIAS (Academy of Italian-Australian Literature and Writers, in collaboration with C.R.A.S.E.S. in Palermo).<\/span><\/li>\n
  • International Literary Competition, 3rd Prize ex aequo for Poetry, October 10, 2003.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • First Poetry Prize at the Gallery\u00a0\u201cIl Salotto dell\u2019Arte\u201d<\/em>, Rome, March 22, 2009.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • \u201cPremio Una Vita per la Cultura\u201d<\/em>,\u00a0Galleria Salotto dell\u2019Arte<\/em>, Rome.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • 2014 \u2013 IV International Literary Award Europe for the novel (Dal Profondo del Cuore<\/em>) \u2013 May 11, 2014, Lugano.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • II Navarro Prize for the novel (Dal Profondo del Cuore<\/em>), May 13, 2018, in Sambuca di Sicilia, Sicily.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Special Award\u00a0\u201cLilly Broggi \u2013 La Pergola Arte\u201d<\/em>\u00a0for the novel (Dal Profondo del Cuore<\/em>), Florence, October 27, 2018.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • V Prize for the novel (Dal Profondo del Cuore<\/em>) at Versilia Club\u2019s\u00a0\u201cMassa Citt\u00e0 Fiabesca di Mare e di Marmo\u201d<\/em>, September 28, 2019.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • 1st International Prize dedicated to the feminine universe\u00a0\u201cDonne d\u2019Amore\u201d V. Barrett<\/em>, Poetry Section (Sui Gradini di Piazza di Spagna<\/em>).<\/span><\/li>\n
  • 1st Prize for the Literature \u2013 Novel category for the work (Il Coraggio \u00e8 Femmina<\/em>), Rome, May 22, 2023.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Poetry Award\u00a0\u201cAi Tuoi Piedi\u201d<\/em>\u00a0in the city of Mercogliano (AV) for the poem (E l\u00e0 incontrai mia Madre<\/em>), September 8, 2024.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • XI Edition SAN VALENTINO AWARD \u2013 City of Atripalda (AV) \u2013 Cupid Award World Wide Section \u2013 for the poem\u00a0\u2018Ich habe dich geliebt\u2019<\/em>\u00a0(I loved you) 26-27 April 2025<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"K16<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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