Penelope: A Social Worker - Poetry
by Rosita Mazzi
My room
at work
the only witness of what we say.
The hope searchers
knock at my door -
I sit
on my red chair
I hold on
for a little while
before saying...
come in, please.
I still have the curiosity
the kindness
toward each person I meet during my job life.
Try to figure out
before acting!….
… a desperate man
an abused woman,
a not much loved child
are my daily worry.
My human compassion
my professional skills
my job
are involved
are concerned.
I try to help
who is in need,
to recover their human rights.
They lost them on the way.
My only equipment are words
no medicines,
no special tools
only
human feeling and my words mixed together
ready
to heal a little,
maybe,
the suffering
my clients bring to me.
Start talking
writing together
again,
their smashed lives.
Is it possible to understand?
why?
how?
when?
their story started to turn
so badly.
Can they become grateful again to the life?
Can they finally become
what they wanted to be?
I believe "YES"
They can!
Social worker,
with technical compassion
can,
like any artisan,
use easily
her professional skills
It can help
to heal a little the pain
This is the first thing
to be done….
and after find a way
to remove the fatigue
becoming able to go ahead.
Cutting the strings
that let down
killing the willpower.
The people I work for
crossed the seven seas of life.
Or in the calm of life,
they hadn't the courage
to wade across a little creek ....
Or maybe,
just for one distraction
they lose their way.
My gift is
listening
being interested
be patient
being soft but strong.
This is my gift
day after day
month after month
year after year
imagine
write again
the script
of their future lives
Each interview is like a wave
it comes and goes,
releasing drops of knowledge each time.
This undertow movement
is like the trust
they allow
useful to move on
because each life can be painful till when revealed,
with his unique feature
Patience, action, and devotion
are not enough taken alone
they have to be carefully mixed up
because they deserve to find again a dignified life!
It is like Penelope's shroud:
She weaved the shroud during the day
and undoes it during the night
to trick the Proci:
the change is mostly done with patience
The rescue plan is like a long wait
a clever strategy, the same used by Penelope .
She saved herself and her desires
Weaving and disassembling the shroud.
At the end she saw coming back her beloved Odysseus!
Rosita Mazzi is a social worker specializing in family treatment and drug addiction treatment. She received her first degree in social work from Pisa University in 1984 and her second degree in sociology from Bologna University in 1991. She practices social work in the public health service called Ser.t in Ausl of Reggio Emilia, Italy.