http://slow.writerscafe.org/toritto The original writings of author toritto en-us Copyright 2026 WritersCafe.org 1776040011 WritersCafe.org RSS Generator 15 Blotting out the light and suna shroud descends upon the land a covering of night and fog obscuringunseen death, waiting to lend a helping hand.Hearing the sound of labored breathingfrom somewhere in the night and fog;on the River Styx the sound of oarsdeparting for those distan.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2338490/ It’s seventy degrees outsidewhile at Walmart the Christmas music playsfor those standing in line at the lay-away counterlooking in their checkbooksmentally figuring out if they have enoughto pay for the children’s giftsand next month’s rentwhile on a giant flat Samsun.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2153578/ It was the Summer of 1967 and I was in the Army.  My four years of service would be up on November 17, 1967.I had been loading up flat bed rail cars in Texas in 1966 as my unit prepared to deploy to Vietnam. I had just returned from a couple of years in Asmara, Eritrea.  My mom died sudden.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2150498/ Climbing out from undergroundride a giant escalatorthen turn right and right againjoin the rush passed drug store chain“National Bank of Who Knows Where”flower carts and coffee vendorsthrough the great revolving doorstransported to the highest floorswhen you enter, a su.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2143108/ It’s getting so routinethe murder of innocentscrying teens and mountains of flowersquickly forgotten in mere hours.Yet fear not, you who weep alonefor mighty Caesar and the Senatehave offered lamentation to the Gods,tweeting thoughts and prayersas once we little boys prayed t.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2126678/ Tutmoses gazing ‘cross the Nilesaw your image on the waterCleopatra held Caesar’s handand kissed it by your lightNero plucked his lyrewhile you shined on burning RomeDid Mehmet look upon your faceatop the walls of Byzantium?You shined that nighton Santa Mari.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2121085/ He was a scant 5’2″ inches tall, the son of a carpenter on a Soviet collective farm.  His mom also worked; she as a dairy farmer.  Born in March 9, 1934, he was the third of four children.Like millions of Soviet  citizens, the family suffered during the Nazi occupation.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2120673/ I remember the faint smell of sulphur and sea waterin the shadow of the volcanowhich poured out its wrathof fire and magma; Urns of the Gods spilling overfrom the very depths of hell.I remember the uneven stone streetscarved by carts and chariot wheelsvillas, bath and w***e houses; f.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2120322/ by toritto And so the King and Queen were dead as well as thousands of other “Enemies of the republic.”  There were now two governments in France; the Commune or the government of Paris and the Convention, the elected government o France. now directed b.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2120084/ And so a third national assembly was elected; the National Convention which would be in existence for three years from September 1792 to October 1795.  It was called to draft a new constitution necessitated by the suspension of the King. Its first act was the abolition of the monarchy as an i.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2119932/ by toritto The National Assembly had written a constitution for France and, after two years, considered its work at an end.  It was for others to implement the details. The Assembly voted to dissolve itself and in doing so made one final mistake -  no member of the Assembly could st.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2119748/ The Estates General, which declared itself the National Assembly began work on a Constitution for France while still in Versailles and before its move to the Tuileries which occurred only days after the King and Queen were “invited to live in Paris among their subjects.”The first fru.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2119598/ Tuileries PalaceWith the ruling by Louis XVI that the three classes should meet as one body the National Assembly convened.  Months had gone by since the first meeting of the Estates General.  The Assembly now appointed a committee on the constitution and adopted the title of the Const.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2119479/ For Bastille DayKing Louis XVIIt was the middle of the 1780s and the King of France was broke.Extravagant levels of spending by the monarchy and nobility, both of whom and the church were exempt from taxation on their lands or incomes, had led to perpetual annual deficits.  The deficits h.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2119339/ Bastille Day is approaching and I will be posting a series on the French Revolution, which changed the history of Europe.The Queen’s Chamber at VersaillesWhat was it like to be a common man, a member of the Third Estate in the time just before the French Revolution, which was to change the.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2118480/ Christopher Street, for those of you unfamiliar, is a street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.  Back in the sixties number 51/53 was a bit of a rundown ramshackle building owned by the Genovese crime family.Yup.  It was owned by the Mafia and at the time it housed a restaurant, which wa.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2115000/ .Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. in France.  Short and bandy legged.  A man who needed a cane and had a bad heart; 57 years old and looking older.  He was the first General ashore leading his men on D-DayIn memory of Brigadier General  Theodore Roosevelt Jr.,  a.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2114731/ It was the Summer of 1967 and I was in the Army.  My four years of service would be up on November 17, 1967.I had been loading up flat bed rail cars in Texas in 1966 as my unit prepared to deploy to Vietnam. I had just returned from a couple of years in Asmara, Eritrea.  My mom died .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2113014/ Mulberry Street -Little Italy -" “Italians are just a little worse than the negro, being if anything, filthier in their habits , lawless and treacherous.”John Parker, Governor of Louisiania“Monday we dined at the Camerons; various dago diplomats were present, all much .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2100777/ 9 by toritto Tsar Nicholas II in captivity shoveling snow - 1917The Russian Revolution broke out on March 8, 1917 in Petrograd, now St. Petersburg.  It was still February under the old Russian calendar.  George Buchanan, the British Ambassador reported to his.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2100474/ Giuseppe GaribaldiYes, March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day.And a happy St. Patrick’s Day to all, especially my Irish friends!But March 17 is also the birthday of Italian unification.Italy as a nation will be 158 years old on March 17th.June 2, 1946  is the .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2099977/ Viola Liuzzo died on March 25, 1965.She was murdered by the Klan in Selma, Alabama.I wrote about her on International Women’s Day several years  ago and was somewhat surprised at how many bloggers had never heard of her.  Then I realized how old I am and that she has .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2098782/ Everyone knows of Lenin.  His body is still on display in the great Kremlin square, once known as Red Square, for those with a bit of ghoulishness in their souls to see.  His name and statues have been taken down everywhere in Russia and just about everywhere else as well.  He has b.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2098315/ Fanya Kaplan was a poor peasant girl born in Tsarist Russia on February 10,1890.  She never went to school; what education she received she got at home.  Her four brothers and two sisters lived the same peasant life.And she soon learned to hate her life and the Tsarist officials who tr.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2097714/ One step for a man I watchedwhen I was only 26and knew I’d live to see the dayMagellan set a foot on Mars.I would be a lucky oneto see the great ship’s mighty sailcapturing the solar breezeto take us to that distant shore.This summer it will be 50 years since Neil Armst.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2096474/ Core Members of the White Rose -  Munich 1942 - (l to r) Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst.  Arrested by the Gestapo and guillotined  on February 22, 1943.The notorious Nazi Judge Roland Freisler was practically spitting venom.“You are a traito.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2095585/ “You get away cheap on Valentine’s Day!” she would quip with a smile.Carnations were her favorite flower. Not roses. Carnations.Long stem reds and whites wrapped in that paper that goes inside flower boxes with a bow, a card and delivered by the .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2094312/ Rome will always be hereeternal, imperishableunlike fresh fruit or cheesesor the days of our lives.The dank catacombsthe Colosseum, Appian way orthat monastery of the cloistered oneswhere b******s were abandoned by shamed mothers.Or that hill near the Tibera landfill of wine bott.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2093920/ Toritto, channeling Buddy Holly, soon to be Eliza Doolittle with a cup O’joe - 1959Toritto graduated from Lafayette High School in Brooklyn in June 1959. Lafayette was one of the crown jewels of NYC public education at the time. Graduates who worked and studied came out fully prepared for .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2091888/ It was the first half of the 1970s, I  was in my early thirties  and was an up and coming young “executive” working for the Great American Travel company (Don’t leave home without it!).We were having some problems in the Rome office and my boss asked me to fly to Ital.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2091579/ Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali, better known to the rest of us as Salvador Dali, the Spanish surrealist painter died 30 years ago on January 29.The painter of soft watches, hallucinogenic toreadors and Columbus landing in America is best known for his striking and bizarre images.His pain.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2091193/ Super Bowl Fifty Three will be played in several weeks.  The National Football League has always used Roman numerals to designate the game.  Super Bowl LIII.  Super Bowl 50 however was designated with the familiar Arabic number.  Perhaps they figured the simple Super Bowl L lac.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2089551/ by toritto Vladimir sat on the bank of the river remembering his brother Alexandre. He had dreamed the night before, that they were fishing together on the far away Volga.It was officially Spring, yet winter held on here in eastern Siberia. The land of exiles.He wond.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2089143/ “Your Majesty!  Your Majesty!”Elizabeth awoke from her slumber to hear her Lady in Waiting knocking at the door to her bed chamber.“A messenger from Cumnor Place with urgent news”Elizabeth immediately knew  the subject of the news.  She knew who li.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2088642/ by toritto Welcome to the Hotel Torino! No not in Turin. In Eritrea.First you need some background on how geeky Toritto wound up in Eritrea in 1964.No surprise. We had troops there. We have troops everywhere.One Spring day while at Ft. Devens in Ayer Mass. I receiv.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2087959/ 1, 2016 by toritto My grandfather Francesco at the wedding of his grand daughter -circ a 1950.  He was a 33 year old widower in 1905 with 3 young children, no wife to care for them and no future in the new Italy.  He decided to come to America.&nb.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2087592/ Its New Years and a time for reflection.  I posted this in 2015 under the title “Should I Care?” " and it is still relevant.KunduzYesterday while browsing the “news” between college football games I saw the Huffpo headline: “Afghanistan Falling to Taliban!&rd.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2086387/ Feeding the groom….so I had just turned 21 and in basic training at Ft. Dix N. J. and she was 18, fresh out of high school the previous June  (I took her to her Prom) and working at Ma Bell.We were in love. Jeez were we in love…and I was coming home for 10 day.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2086038/ New Year’s Eve, 1959. It was a mild winter evening in Brooklyn that year. A good night to be in Times Square…not that we were there. We locals always thought Times Square was for tourists.Billy and me were walking the Coney Island boardwalk. Next y.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2085868/ Toritto and his daughters at his 75th birthday party in 2017.There is nothing I can give youwhich you have notbut there is much I cannot givewhich you can take.Take JoyTake PeaceTake LifeTake Heart.All can be darkyet in the darknessis Joy, PeaceLife and Heart.We need o.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2084887/ Soldier sitting by the doorriding the bus in ’64just two and twenty he was thengoing away ’till god knows whenriding a bus through Massachusettsas the snow began to fallthe bus pulled into a road side dinerthe soldier went inand sat at the counterwhere the coffee wa.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2084743/ Did the Magi follow the star across the seasto the new land, to Americaseeking God who will reveal himself againin a cave?God in a cave; now so difficult to findfor the star is obscured by bright lightsbig cities, ciphers of commerce;even the angels are lost in America.Shall t.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2084489/ Into the mail box the cards are delivered, angels, a manger, the star and a lamb as the rural carrier makes her roundslistening to the plaintive sounds the bleats of sheep the clopping of camels the shuffle of sandalscoming from the sack of mail as yet undelivered; driving her .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2083574/ by toritto Icy coldfrozen moonhanging in a crystalline skyas it was foretold.Tree skeletonsappear if deadsave pine and ivyholly berries red.Snow fallson frozen water;the sun is gonethe fearful cower.Fires burningin little hovelskeep hope alive.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2082405/ Once in a Winter of discontent I walked in furrows of deep crusted snow through a forest of spindly birch and pine and came upon the ancient oak.Twice the girth a man could ere embrace; ten times as thick and twice as tall as they scarred bark where once strong branches thrivedwhere .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2081426/ Simonetta Canttaneo de Candia Vespucci- (1453 �" 1476) The face of the Italian Renaissance.La bella Simonetta looking to the distant not at me at the London National GalleryBorn in that stern Ligurian region up above the sea where mighty Neptune beats against the rocks t.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2079012/ by toritto http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2078146/ She visits at 11:11 sometimes A.M;  mostly P a sudden haunting urges me to look at a clock which must be digital.Dropping by for just a moment only at 11:11 the time, our private denouement I look around and know she’s here.I’m standing in an empty room aware tha.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2077560/ There is no time;only the motion of decaythe chaos of the defineddissolving into infiniteSitting still, the world spinsthe sun moves, galaxies speednothing seems to changewhile nothing remains the samebetween glancesdecomposition, degenerationatrophy, becoming apparentthrough.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2077173/ by toritto MichaelThe doctors spoke to them about a “degenerative disorder of the nervous system” and how infants with the disease seem perfectly normal at birth. The test for a definitive diagnosis could only be done at Albert Einstein Hospital in the Bronx; th.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/toritto/2076981/