CINQUE/FIVE

"Earth laughs in flowers" (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

 

Walking in the rain, we are searching: searching for the grotta hidden behind the Salzana church, searching for taleggio cheese, searching for meaning. We didn't find the cheese or the grotta. Unexpected discoveries evoked deeper questions about underground rivulets, rushing torrents, and the sacred waters of the region. We are inquisitive but cautious; unwilling to trespass on private land. Thirstily, we drink from ice-cold mountain streams. Carefully, we navigate pathways slick with sudden rain. We pick rosemary and later add to farfalle pasta with lemon, parmesan, onion and good local olive oil. Salute, clink the glasses of Sangiovese. Mountain mists gather in volumious shapes and descend into the valley, searching. 

Together, we are searching. 

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*Photos of Val Taleggio, Italy, taken by Ellen Avery & Katie Chown, 2018. Reprinted with permission. 

 

Reference: 

Emerson, R.W. Hamatreya. Retrieved from: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52341/hamatreya