The water that falls

during the Tyrrhenian monsoons

carries children and young people

away from my town.

It sweeps them downstream,

and the river carries them towards the sea,

where they stay, grow up,

find jobs and start families.

And here, you can no longer find children or young people.

Only pensioners, dogs, cats and rodents,

not to mention wild boars

and other wild animals.

No children at all. They’re all in Cecina,

where there’s the sea, or in Pontedera

or Ponsacco, where the water stagnates.