In September 2022 I had the opportunity of joining a group of people on a tour to Liguria and Tuscany, the latter being considered by many English poets and other renowned authors and musicians, as the most picturesque area of the Italian peninsula. One evening, as we were about to tour by bus an ancient Italian village in the comune of Carrara known as Colonnata, group-leader Lawrence Sciberras asked me if I was willing to read a poem entitled Colonnata by Gozitan poet Charles Bezzina. Bezzina had of course visited the place and wrote a poem inspired by it. The poet being an old friend and native of Victoria Gozo like myself, I immediately obliged.
A couple of months after this occurrence, the poet himself approached me to tell me that he was working on his 10th and last anthology of poems. Charles emphasised the point that this would be his last opus and he did this with such significance that he almost gave me the notion that he was preparing for the ultimate moment. However, having known Charles Bezzina for decades, I fully understood that he was trying to convey to me that Mal-Aħħar Mewġiet (Against the last waves) would be his testament to the world, his last great literary act. As to the place that Bezzina enjoys in the areopagus of Malta's poets, I am sure there is no need of any explanation. The 10 anthologies he published throughout his literary career are a living monument to his honour and reflect perfectly well the natural gift for poetry that nature was happy to bestow on him. One may not like his style or contents but can only stand in awe at the way he plays with words to create original thoughts incarnating his feelings and emotions.
Bezzina's poetry is not merely about feelings, thoughts and emotions. It goes deeper and deeper to the point of coining in words those situations in his life where poetry becomes his earthly companion. As I read through the anthology, I became aware that the sea provides the poet with notions of relaxation as he escapes from the frustrations and anxieties of everyday life. Life seems to loom large in the poet's mind and it weighs heavy on his heart to the point of becoming a stumbling block in his search for inner peace. The sea, the forest, the open spaces of nature, the breeze, the desert are all "places" that ease the heavy weights that press hard on the poet's shoulders. At the same time, Bezzina is the poet who is concerned to see the environment that surrounds him falling victim to abuse; this comes out clearly in his poem U Għawdex Qed Jinbidel (And Gozo is changing). Being his last anthology to be published, Bezzina must have felt obliged to include also poems in honour of poet-friends of his who passed away; his poem dedicated to his friend the late Professor Oliver Friggieri is both autobiographical in nature and balanced in evocation and exposition. The same can be said about his poem dedicated to Ġużé Cardona, whom the poet considers as his benefactor; in fact, the book is dedicated to these two old friends of the poet. Carrying the touch of a poet at the end of his literary journey, Mal-Aħħar Mewġiet is an anthology to be cherished; it reflects the main moments in the life of a poet who is in search of perfect peace and solitude in a world of indifference and spiritual abjection.
The publication of this anthology was rendered possible through the help of the Directorate of National Heritage within the Ministry of Gozo together with Heritage Malta. A copy of Charles Bezzina's latest anthology Mal-Aħħar Mewġiet. Poeżiji can be obtained by contacting the author directly or from leading bookshops in Malta and Gozo.