Arco – Shadorma (and some history) NapoWriMo 2014

Veranda,
Ladies dressed in crinoline …
Parasols,
Fans waving,
Hoping to see the Archduke.
Until the Habsburg’s fell.

Austria,
Double Monarchy,
South Tyrol,
Trentino.
On the edge of the Empire,
Until the Habsburg’s fell

Tall palm trees
Among pines and spruce …
Gazebos,
Music playing.
In the evenings at the parks,
Until the Habsburg’s fell.

Gleaming,
Wealthy came to rest …
Trentino,
Pellagra.
Arco no place for the poor,
Until the Habsburg’s fell.

Arco in its Austro-Hungarian past was a city famous for its clean air and mild climate.  The Archduke planted an exotic arboretum, a huge casinò was built, where the wealthy played and listened to music.  The parks housed gazebos and outdoor caffès.  There were many nursing homes for Austria’s wealthy sick to recover from lung problems.  For the most part though, Trentino was one of the poorest regions in Austria and future Italy. People ate mostly “polenta” a sort of corn mush and died of pellagra.  Hundreds immigrated from the surrounding valleys going to North or South America to escape poverty.

It was only after the second world war, with the “special statute” which ensured that some of Trentino-AltoAdige’s tax money stayed in the region, that wealth came to the region through public programs that helped the farmers and merchants,  stabilized the rivers  (which regularly destroyed towns and farm lands during spring thaw) and built up the infrastructures of the region and permitted people to buy and in the old towns refurbish their homes.  There are 5 “special statute” regions in Italy…but only Trentino-Alto Adige has used the funds at hand to completely change the fate of the people who live in the territory.

Written for NaPoWriMo – Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie