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The look of Giampiero Neri on the Nature

By the masterly use of metaphors, the author of Teatro Naturale lets him down in the secret mechanisms that regulate the behaviors and the vicissitudes of people and societies

by Luigi Caricato
http://www.luigicaricato.net

The linking between Giampiero Neri and Nature is solid and decisive. It is necessary in order to realize his poetry. We were inspired by him while choosing the name of the magazine. As a matter of fact, Teatro Naturale is the name of one of his books published in the famous series “I poeti allo Specchio” (Poets in front of the mirror) by Mondadori publishing house. The anthology that collects the entire corpus of the lyrics by Neri, titled Poesie 1960-2005 (Poems 1960-2005) edited by Mondadori, was published in 2007 in the Oscar Mondadori series “Poesia del ‘900” (The poetry of ‘900). Moreover, on March 2009 it will be published by Mondadori the collection of unpublished lyrics titled Paesaggi inospiti (Inhospitable landscapes).

The theme of nature is always in close up in your books. It is a constant reference to…
My constant reference to nature is not a pretext. On the contrary, I’d like to claim the primary role that natural observation has for me, and for my poetry. It was by observing the nature that I first noted the close relationships that links us to nature and to the animal world. So, speaking about animals I was referring to men. What fascinates me is that in nature everything takes place more frankly. Nature hides itself, that’s true, but it doesn’t cheat. The wolf remains a wolf; it passes itself off, it hides itself, but it never becomes a sheep. It camouflage itself but, while attacking, it clearly reveals its identity. That’s different for men. That’s the reason way I preferred to tell about animals, because of their masking is more evident.


Nobody can escape from the attractive strength of nature. Sometimes the idea of a going back to the ground and to the nature values returns. Is it possible?
The idea of a return to the ground is the reply to the excessive mechanization of life. So, before to completely leave our “naturality”, our “life into the nature”, we instinctively try to live nature as much and as better as possible. This is taking place in the era of robots, of mechanical dogs, and of machines that are managed autonomously. The presence of a live animal has a balmy influence over us. Thaumaturgic, I would say.


From nature to agriculture there is a short way…
I think so. Nowadays, the image of rurality has very changed. It tends to resemble a specialized reality. Also strain, that still subsists in agriculture, is greatly reduced in comparison to 50 years ago.


All the same, contemporary intellectuals do not mind so much the rural society…
That’s true. At the moment we live a transition era, quite complex and difficult. The rural world still presents its expensive and fatiguing aspect, that is out of proportion with the economic results. All the same, in my opinion, is it not far the moment in which the factory/agriculture factor will reward the latter. As a matter of fact, it is possible to produce 1,000 machines per day, but it is impossible to grow a tree by violating its nature.


Speaking about nature calls at the mind the problem of the environmental protection. Someone does not care the environment at all…
There are two kind of environment destroyers. First, people that destroy nature out of ignorance; these, perhaps, are the less guilty. Second, people that devastate for egoism and for egocentricity. The latter would like to destroy nature by building up absurd buildings that disfigure the nature of the environment. We know many examples; it isn’t worth enumerating them.
For this reason, we need to employ more strictness. For instance, we should preserve coastlines, by avoiding the construction of houses that disfigure the nature of the landscape.


The settings and the backgrounds of your poems always concern the past. No future perspective is presented. The work begin in the past and only the past is taken into account. By the way, the past you show obviously represents all epochs. It can holds for all the times but it is always past….
Yes, I agree. What I speak about can hold for every epoch. What happened could happen again. I’m not an optimist about the destiny of mankind. I think it will continue to be what it at the moment is, a mixture of good and bad things. Not only good things and not only bad things, but a blend of them. We are the resultant of such a forces that are restless inside us. Sometimes one can prevail over the other; sometimes the contrary. It depends on the circumstances.



Hence, we could define it a “philosophic poetry”…
Yes, we can say. A “thought poetry”. The thought has an important, at times preponderant, part in it. Certainly, a meaningful part.


What is the lesson that a reader can draw from your books?
First, as some philosopher said, we can not learn anything because of one can only learn what he already knows. By reading my books the reader can only find some confirmations. He can also find some solace, perhaps, because if he thinks himself to had make a mistake, he can find myself making the same mistake. Hence, my way can be an help for someone, a fellow traveler. I mean my books in this way.

by Luigi Caricato
http://www.luigicaricato.net
02 February 2009 Teatro Naturale International n. 1 Year 1

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