Bergamo

March 8, 2021, monumental cemetery of Bergamo. Prime Minister Mario Draghi recalled the victims of Covid by stopping in a moment of silence in front of the monument bearing the prayer You are there by Ernesto Olivero.

You are there
I am convinced that you are
next to the people
who die alone,
sun, with
sometimes glued
on the resuscitation glass
the drawing of a nephew,
a heart, a kiss, a greeting.
You are there, close to each of them,
you are there, on their side while
they are fighting, you are there and take your last breath, the surrender of love to you.
You are there, die with them to take them up there where you will be with them forever,
forever.
You are there, friend of every friend
who dies in Bergamo,
in Lombardy, in every
part of our troubled country.
You are there and it is You who console them,
who embrace them, who hold their hand,
who transform their fear into serene trust
. You are there, why don't you abandon anyone,
you who have been
abandoned by everyone.
You are there, because your fear,
your suffering,
the injustice of your death,
you have offered for each of us.
You are there and you are the breath
of those who are
out of breath these days.
You are there, you are there,
to make them breathe forever.
It seems a hope,
but it is more than a hope:
it is the certainty of your love
without limits.

Ernesto Olivero
NP April 2021