December by Michele Sovente

Photo by New York Scugnizzo

Reprinted from Dialect Poetry of Southern Italy: Texts and Criticism (A Trilingual Anthology) edited by Luigi Bonaffini, Legas, 1997, p.275.

Dicembre

Cora caruta ammiezo

'i ffoglie 'i dicembre

quanno addisegna 'u cielo

vie storte senza na ràreca.

Chello ca nun se rice

s' 'u pporta nu camje

ca 'ncoppa 'i pprete s' appenne.

Acqua moppeta rinto

'i ssajttelle, cu ttanta streppuni

e rrote carute, 'a faccia

'i ll' acqua nisciuno 'a sape.

'I ffoglie a dicembre addiventano

serpienti e liuni

(Inedita)

December

A tail fallen among

December leaves

when the sky draws

crooked roads leading nowhere.

What isn't said

is taken away by a truck

scrambling up stony paths.

Water swirling

in the cesspits, with so many cores

and tires fallen in, no one

knows the face of the water.

The leaves in December become

snakes and lions.

(Translated by Luigi Bonaffini)

Saints of the Day for December

(L-R) Our Lady of Loreto, Infant of Prague,
and Santa Francesca Saverio Cabrini 

December is the month the Church dedicates to the Divine Infancy, inviting the faithful to contemplate the mystery of God made flesh.

• December 1 — Feast of San Carlo de Foucauld 

• December 3 — Feast of San Francesco Saverio 

• December 4 — Feast of Santa Barbara

• December 4 — Novena to Santa Lucia

• December 6 — Feast of San Nicola di Bari

• December 7 — Feast of Sant'Ambrogio

• December 7 — Feast of Santa Burgundofara

• December 7 — Vigil of the Immaculate Conception 

• December 8 — Feast of the Immaculate Conception 

• December 10 — Translation of the Holy House of Loreto 

• December 12 — Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe  

• December 13 — Feast of Santa Lucia di Siracusa 

• December 14 — Feast of Sant'Agnello di Napoli 

• December 16 — Christmas Novena

• December 16 — Feast of Sant’Adelaide di Borgogna 

• December 17 — Novena to Santo Stefano 

• December 18 — Feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

• December 19 — Novena to the Holy Innocents 

• December 20 — Feast of San Vincenzo Romano

• December 22 — Feast of Santa Francesca Saverio Cabrini

• December 23 — Feast of Blessed Nicholas Factor

• December 24 — ’Ndocciata 

• December 25 — Feast of Sant’Anastasia di Sirmio 

• December 25 — Buon Natale 

• December 26 — Feast of Santo Stefano

• December 27 — Feast of San Giovanni Evangelista 

• December 27 — Prayer for the Beatification of SG King Francesco II of the Two Sicilies 

• December 28 — Novena to the Three Kings 

• December 28 — Feast of the Holy Innocents 

• December 28 — Feast of Santa Caterina Volpicelli 

• December 29 — Feast of San Tommaso Becket 

• December 30 — Feast of San Ruggero di Canne 

• December 31 — Feast of Santa Colomba di Sens

• December 31 — Feast of San Silvestro I 

• December 31 — Te Deum on New Year’s Eve