Milan, March 13th, 2010: Emil Enea, a young Roma child of 13, perished in the fire of a makeshift shelter in Via Novara (Milan).

Already the victim of several camp clearances (without the offer of alternative housing or assistance) his family were living - and still are - in conditions of hardship and marginalization.

Farewell, Emil

by Roberto Malini

Farewell, Emil

We read in the ashes

your name,

short and innocent

as was your life.

No, not farewell, until tomorrow,

we will remember you among the living,

in the children playing

(their happiness already a miracle)

in front of the makeshift huts,

the derelict buildings…

under bridges.

Until tomorrow…

in the hope that tomorrow’s dawn

will no longer have fingers of ice

and tomorrow’s sunset

will not surprise us once more

with hands curved in flame.

Until tomorrow

for we are still in time to prevent

other innocent stars

falling into the ashes.

Until tomorrow

in the hope that no day goes by

without the murderers

being reminded of their crimes…

and the indifferent recalling

that silence, too, is a sin,

and those who fail to defend the weak

kill.

Now rest in peace, Emil.

We will protect your name

and prevent it being scattered

once more

in the wind.

English translation by Glenys Robinson