Haiku

Seduto sotto un albero a meditare Mi vedevo immobile danzare con il tempo Come un filo d'erba Che si inchina alla brezza di maggio O alle sue intemperie Alla rugiada che si posa sui fiori Quando s'annuncia l'autunno Assomiglio Io che devo svanire E vorrei Sospendermi nel nulla Ridurmi E diventare nulla Haiku © 1993 Franco Battiato & Angelo Arioli The first four lines of the second verse of "Haiku" are taken from the 1906 Japanese novel Kusumakura (Grass Pillow) by Natsume Sōseki, a novel translated into Italian and published by Battiato's publishing house Ottava. The Persian verse was written by Angelo Arioli, who was a Professor of Arab language and literature at the Italian Institute of Oriental Studies at Sapienza University in Rome.

Seated under a tree to meditate I saw myself unmoving, dancing with the weather like a blade of grass that bows down in the May breeze or to its elements. The rust placed on flowers when autumn announces itself, I resemble. I who must disappear. And I would like to suspend myself in the nothingness, reduce myself and become nothing. English translation © 2020 Dennis Criteser Caffé de la Paix was released in 1993 and sees a return to using rock band instrumentation on some of the songs, combined with both classical/orchestral textures and the use of Eastern ethnic instruments like tabla and tanbur. The album brings together many of Battiato's cultural and musical interests, and the Caffé of its title refers to the Paris café where George Gurdjieff often went to write and to meet his students. The teachings of Gurdjieff are one of the three spiritual pillars in Battiato's life and work, along with Sufism and Tibetan Buddhism.

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