MOENA - THE FAIRY OF THE DOLOMITES

Ladin country
of blessed air
sublime quiescence
of this magic valley!

The forest's gnomes
tease each other
it is the enchanted kingdom
of elves and imps

and while in the valley
the people grumble,
high on the alp
cheerful marmots whistle.

But when the moon
with its white brilliance
illuminates the sky
with a faint radiance

the blue fairy
with grace and gleam
turns on, in a spell,
love's most charmed dream.

This poem, finalist for the "Padus Amoenus" contest sponsored by the Cassa di Risparmio di Parma e Piacenza,
held in Sissa (PR) in 1999, and published in that anthology.