Majid Naficy: Calabrian Fig

Every morning when I go stair climbing
I see her with a rake in hand
Standing by a fig tree
In front of her Roman house
With arches and domes.

Today I ask her:
“Maria!
When will your figs become sweet?”
She laughs and says:
“When my grandchild begins to talk
And say: buongiorno!”

Long ago she brought the sapling of this fig
From the mountains of Calabria
Where one can feel the winds
From the Ionian Sea
And the Tyrrhenian.

But now in Santa Monica
Only the wind from the Pacific
Talks to her Calabrian fig.

Majid Naficy is the author of many books in Persian and in English including Father & Son published by Red Hen. He lives in Los Angeles.

Copyright 2018 Majid Naficy

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