MONDAY, 11 APRIL 2011
I Will Give You a Rose
Painting by Laura Tedeschi
I will give you a rose
A red rose to paint everything
A rose to comfort your each and every tear
And a rose to show you my love
I will give you a rose
A white rose as if you were my wife
A white rose to help you forget
Each little pain
My name is Antonio and I’m mad
I was born in 1954 and I’ve lived here since I was a baby
I believed I could talk with the devil
So they closed me in a mental home for forty years
I’m writing you this letter because I don’t know how to talk
Forgive the handwriting of a school child
And I’m astonished I’m still feeling emotions
But it’s the fault of my hand that won’t stop shaking
I’m like a piano with a broken key
The dissonant chord of an orchestra of drunks
Day and night seem the same
In the dim light the pierces the opaque glass
I’m still pissing myself because I’m afraid
To the sane, we have always been rubbish
Smelling of piss and sawdust
This is mental illness and there is no cure
I will give you a rose
A red rose to paint everything
A rose to comfort your each and every tear
And a rose to show you my love
I will give you a rose
A white rose as if you were my wife
A white rose to help you forget
Each little pain
Mad people are like question marks with no sentences
Thousands of spaceships that never return home
They are snowmen spread out under the sun
Mad people are messengers of a God that doesn’t want them
I build snow for myself out of polystyrene
My illness is that I’ve been left alone
Now take a telescope and measure the distance
Look between me and you – who is more dangerous?
We loved each other secretly in a hospital ward
Finding a corner that would be ours alone
I remember the few moments when we felt alive
Not like the medical records crammed in the archives
Of all my memories, you’ll be the last to disappear
You were like an angel tied to a radiator
In spite of everything I’m still waiting for you
And when I close my eyes I feel your hands caressing me
I will give you a rose
A red rose to paint everything
A rose to comfort your each and every tear
And a rose to show you my love
I will give you a rose
A white rose as if you were my wife
A white rose to help you forget
Each little pain
My name is Antonio and I’m on the roof
Dear Margherita, I’ve waited for you for 20 years
We go mad when no one understands us
Also when your best friend betrays you
I leave you this letter, now I must go
Forgive the handwriting of a school child
Are you astonished I’m still feeling something?
Surprise yourself again because Antonio knows how to fly
Simone Cristicchi
