BUTTAPIETRA (Verona) – A capsule containing thoughts written “at the time of the coronavirus”, to pass on the memory of these difficult days and make it clear, to those who will be there, how difficult it was to live them, especially for the most defenseless: children, young people, for whom the pandemic was (and is) the period of “without”, without friends, without hugs, without sport.

The ideal “bottle with the message” – a steel container registered in a special record kept in the United States – was buried today in the  garden of the school complex in the small village of Buttapietra, in the province of Verona (Veneto, Italy ), on the occasion of the resumption of construction work on the new gymnasium of the institute. On the occasion, the country was proclaimed “Friend of the Bees” as part of the “Laudato si’ ” project inspired by Pope Francis’s encyclical.

“Ours is a message of optimism – said the mayor of Buttapietra, Sara Moretto, during the ceremony held today, May 21, in Buttapietra -: the children were the most involved and affected by the restrictions, so we want to make posterity understand what today’s young people have experienced, what we we have all tried: suffering and suffering. But we also want to convey the breath of fresh air that today we are giving us the resumption of work for the construction of the new gym of the school “.

“Whoever opens the time capsule in 2071 – added Elisa De Berti, vice president of the Veneto Region – will be able to understand what our children have experienced but what matters, as one of our young people said, is that everyone we have learned to give more value to small gestures and not to underestimate them “.

But that’s not all: inside the capsule, along with the messages of the boys, there is also a very special poem, “Let’s talk with the eyes” by the poet Agata De Nuccio, a sort of multilingual anthem (the poem has been translated into many languages, from Italian to Afrikaans, up to the language of the Canadian natives) that has embraced the world just when the world itself could no longer do so. Agata, born in Castrignano del Capo (Lecce), has lived for 40 years in Erbè (Verona) where she works in the social field and is a poet who, with her lyrics, has received acclaim and literary awards from a very young age. Our agency spoke about Agata’s poetry and literary activity in an interview (which you can read here: A poem in all languages ​​to embrace the world).

And here the poem.

Let’s talk
We share feelings,
We recognize each other,
Hidden inside the mask,
Dry eyes and mute mouth,
Behind the masks like ghosts
That tear-burning fire
Your heart and my heart felt
We understand,
It will not be difficult for us to stay together
I’ve seen the suffering that
Knocked on the door to door
The soul descends like an insect
Flowers that bloom in spring,
Tells you about a new beginning
Blooming spring.
Reveals the platelet brightness of the blood
Life will be safe again.
(translation in English by Elizabeth Woods)

In the photo above, from left: Sabrina Argentati (deputy mayor of Buttapietra), Sara Moretto (mayor of Buttapietra), Elisa De Berti (vice president of the Veneto Region) and the poet Agata De Nuccio with the time capsule; in the pic below, the capsule and the poem