Thank you to Anna Napp for sharing my poem, Permission to Stay, as well as a brief explanation about the poem's creation, on her website The Brilliant Meal. Anna's literary food blog offers beautiful stories, recipes, photographs and insight. I hope you'll look around the site and explore.
Anna's request to share something on her blog came at a fortuitous time - my birthday. As a friend texted me this morning, I'm turning 21 again. As with all milestones, I've been reflecting on the past and thinking about the future. I lived in Italy for four years, one as a student and three as an employee at NYU in Florence. Now, all grown up with a husband, son and different career, I'm living in Washington, D.C. And we're plotting to return to live in Italy temporarily in a few years. Life is filled with circular and straight narratives that intertwine.
The poem's title, Permission to Stay, reflects on the question of who can give and accept permission. The title comes from an Italian police document, but the meaning moves beyond the law. In this new year of mine, what permissions will I be given and carve out for myself?
Thank you again to my dear Sarah Lawrence MFA friend, Anna, for the opportunity to think about these issues and share a poem. I hope we can break bread in the same city together one day soon, preferably with a glass of wine.
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