ape al lavoro / busy bee

felicità (happiness)

C’è un’ape che se posa
su un bottone de rosa:
lo succhia e se ne va...
Tutto sommato, la felicità
è una piccola cosa.

[A bee lands on a rosebud:
drinks from it, and flies away…
All in all, happiness is a small thing.¹]

Seeing a bee on a flower always reminds me of Trilussa's famous poem, which reminds me that I can find happiness in small things, in simple things, in many things that I may overlook when I am not mindful.

Trilussa (Carlo Alberto Salustri, 1871-1950) wrote poems in his native Roman dialect. A collection of them was one of the first books of poetry I bought as an adolescent.

For the language enthusiast: the first two lines of the poem in Italian would be: C’è un’ape che si posa su un bocciolo di rosa. The other lines would be the same.

¹ My literal translation.

Click on the button to hear me read the poem: 

Felicità

or launch the Felicità audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

This is my contribution to edition #105 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Sanhita of Pocket full of Spices.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to sepia (Lightroom preset Sepia Tone).

This post contains the gallery of images contributed to the event.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

Comments

[Sanhita]

Love the flower and the poem, Simona. Thanks for your lovely photo.

[Molly Hashimoto]

Grazie, Simona! The poem is simple and how beautifully your photo captures the meaning!

[Simona Carini]

You are welcome, Sanhita. Glad you like the post.

Thanks, Molly. Glad you like the poem and the photo.