As I stroll through the streets of Ortigia,
ceramic vases, shaped like human heads,
seem to greet me from the balconies.

Some greet with flowers,
others with peppers and basil.
Ornaments flood the city’s historic center,
bursting with shapes and colors.

But a dark story hides behind them:
Myths tell that in the 1100s, when Sicily was still under Arab rule,
a young Sicilian woman, who lovingly tended her plants on the balcony,
was seduced by a handsome Moorish prince and his promises of love.
She gave herself entirely to this romance, unaware that a wife and children
waited for him in his homeland.

Upon discovering the truth, rage consumed her.
Once her beloved had fallen asleep, she severed his head
and turned it into a vase, planting basil on the balcony.
Some tales recall this story as a romance, others with a touch of humor,
perhaps to convey that Sicily is fertile not only in its land,
but in its legends.

On my canvas, I am free.
Red aerosols whisper passion,
black acrylics shape the Moorish prince,
while markers dance with peppers.