Gonzalo Álvarez García
To the Tree of Peace
Carved by Enzo Sciavolino for Martiri della Libertà square in Rivoli

Man of the third millennium
(after Christ),
child of progress,
proud master
of space
and of time…

Capable
sword moulder,
you know all about war,
but you know nothing at all
about your mother’s womb
where life germinates.
You have consecrated
your civilization
to war:
temples
and divinities
and rituals and dogmas
and schools
where children
learn the art
of killing other children.

Adorn the squares
with statues of men,
heroes as they have killed
other men
and your jesters
ask the children
to emulate the feats!

The male who idolizes
is the brother of he,
who smashed his father’s skull
with a stone,
in the primitive den,
to suck out the brain
and hidden in the darkest corner
of the soul
the obsessive seal has remained
of that primordial violence
that you call civilization.
Civilization
is an ambiguous word,
a stuttering flute,
unsolved existence
of the Neolithic period…
Translate the innocence
of a puppy
and the ferociousness
of primitive man that lived in the forests.

You have consecrated
your civilization
to war…!

The tree of peace
in the square of Rivoli
(air, light, bronze, stone ),
is a metaphor
heralding a new era.
The mothers around the world
will call
Civilization for Life.

Palermo, 23-09-2004