Amalia! Poem by Emmanuel George Cefai

Amalia!
magic name, common name, rare name
Amalia!

But in your name there is
a person behind the scenes:
there was a heart that beat
there was a heart that had to beat
for more years

alas! Amalia!
the gales of misfortune carried you
you were speaking with red face
the day before
the day before
you spoke not more
and face upwards lay
in the hospital bed without a move

and I
I
entered without sobs,
for my heart was too broken to make sobs,
and
I felt that I was treading sacred ground
I touched your cheeks now
becoming cold
your hair grey of suffering
I touched
and
begged them give me a little tress
that was all.

That was all.
The mass, the funeral, the tomb,
the cold morn of the entombment,
your shroud remains
Amalia!
your blood remains
Amalia!
and
that was all.