By Camilla Maria Cederna
Blessed olive tree
spirit of land, water and sand
tree strong and free
you know the secret
the way to the light
the infinite sky
of the raising full moon
every day, every night, in winter or summer
you give life
to flowers, leaves of grass
seeds and roots
barely blossomed
to wandering shadows
little creatures of love
oh sacred tree, tree of life!
tree strong and wise,
heart of the garden of forbidden desires
you saved five young souls
in a strange afternoon
five flowers in fire
burning dreams of desire
thanks to your magical lymph,
to your magnetic strong bark
we, strange glowing stars
we, free butterflies
can still fly in the wind
can still cry, can still dream
of our wild paradise
Olivier, arbre sacré
Olivier
arbre sacré
arbre de vie
dieu de la terre, du soleil, de la mer
tu connais le secret
la voie de la lune, du ciel infini
esprit libre
arbre de l’amour
tous les jours tous les soirs en hiver et en été
tu donnes la vie
aux feuilles d’herbe aux graines aux racines
aux fleurs
à peine épanouies
errant dans l’ombre
enfouies dans la nuit
arbre immortel
cœur du jardin des désirs interdits
grâce à toi, lymphe de vie
arbre sacré
arbre sage
nous, étoiles filantes
étoiles lumineuses et brûlantes
nous pouvons encore voler dans le vent
et encore
rêver de notre paradis sauvage
(du recueil Étoiles perdues, La tête à l’envers, 2023)
Ulivo albero sacro
Ulivo
albero sacro
albero vivo
dio della terra, del sole, del mare
conosci il segreto
la via della luna, del cielo infinito
spirito libero
pianta d’amore
ogni giorno, ogni sera, d’inverno, d’estate
nutri il tuo cuore
di foglie di erba, radici,
di sogni, illusioni perdute
alla fine di un giorno d’estate
hai salvato la vita
a fiori
appena sbocciati
perduti
distesi nell’ombra
sull’orlo del nulla, lanciati
a inseguire desideri bruciati
a sfidare la morte
albero sacro, albero vivo
cuore del giardino dei desideri proibiti
grazie a te,
linfa di vita, albero saggio
noi stelle cadenti
noi vaghe stelle brillanti
possiamo ancora volare nel vento
e ancora sognare il nostro paradiso selvaggio
(unpublished)
The Importance of Arts, Culture & The Creative Process
My poetry is always born in a specific language tied to my experience of life and wandering through different countries—Italian, French, English. Languages flow like rivers, merging on their way to the sea. A poem emerges like an illumination, triggered by an image, a word, an idea. It is a form of exile, a search for an elsewhere within and through language, unsettling it, forcing it to express the inexpressible, and at times, to dissolve into silence.
This exile leaves the speaker always foreign, lost, stripped of identity—only to find themselves again, crossing borders, creating passages, bridges, and tearing down walls. Poetry is thus a journey through places of memory and emotion, the landscapes of my existence and encounters with otherness: Rome, New York, Paris, Tangier, Montreal, Vancouver…
It is also a form of therapy, an attempt to fill absence, to heal wounds carved deep into the heart and body. Intense lived experiences, painful separations, buried pasts—through poetry, they can become opportunities for rebirth and creation. Words replace things, and poetry turns into an erotic, ecstatic adventure, a dance of fragmentation and transcendence. The body and heart dissolve into the magma of life—whether in nature or the asphalt of the city. Carriers of energy and desire, words trigger emotions, tremors, allowing pain to transform into pleasure.
Writing becomes both a bridge and a shipwreck—a scattering of images, fragments, wreckage to cling to in order not to sink. Poetry, ultimately, is a means of survival and resistance, a pursuit of freedom, humanity, and self-discovery through the experience of otherness, beyond the closed borders of identity.
Tell us something about the natural world that you love and don’t wish to lose. What are your thoughts on the kind of world we are leaving for the next generation?
Humanity is destroying nature—a process that has been ongoing for a long time but is now more critical than ever, despite scientific awareness of its severity. Due to human greed and selfishness, countless animal and plant species are disappearing. Existing measures to curb climate change are often ignored by many countries in the name of short-sighted and reckless interests.
I am deeply troubled when I think of the legacy we are leaving our children—a world where nature is violated, the air unbreathable, the water polluted. An irreversible loss.
We must teach young people to love nature, to embrace trees, plants, and flowers, and to spread love for all living beings.
