Il Postino (The Postman)

 Ocean waves,

glistening edges of light

moving into the heart

of one who knows his life is ebbing.

Cool salty breezes

soften around him

revealing a gentle yet fierce

face of love.

A life work in process,

he feels old yet innocent,

catching his breath…

breathing into all that is,

a fine filigree of mist,

silver strands barely visible,

trembling in the light and his vision

of what was… disappears.

Already beyond it,

he walks away

as the sea fills his footprints,

a dissolving, a distilling of form into essence

the essence from which he came,

more perfect than before.

Willow

July 7, 1995

Note:   I was inspired to write this poem after seeing the movie, “Il Postino”, about a postman and his friendship with the poet Pablo Neruda while he was in political exile on a small island, far from his native Chile.

Even more moving than the film was the true story of the man who was the screen writer and acting the role of the postman, Massimo Troisi.  He was not well and postponed heart surgery to play the part, because he was fiercely determined to finish the film. In between scenes, he rested and revived his body and spirit so he could finish the movie. And he did. 

He died from a heart attack the day after the film was finished.