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Italy is mine

... and it owes me a living

Art and Nature, music and literature, animal and human rights, freedom of thought and speech, kindness, culture and education without boundaries.

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Vera da Pozzo, an Italian expat in Paris.

From the Island of the Sun to the Isle of France.

My pseudonym Vera da Pozzo is a pun alluding to what I care about most : truth and loyalty, depth and insight. In my mother tongue, the syntagma "vera da pozzo" means a puteal, but it could be a female name followed by a family name. Water is indispensable for living, and we need to keep it pure and unpolluted; it is the same for truth.
I write in English because I love this language since my childhood and also because English allows me to have a more detached view on both Italy and France. The title of my personal website and blog is a paraphrasis of the verse "England is mine and it owes me a living", from Morrissey's song "Still Ill", released in The Smiths debut album "The Smiths" on 20th February 1984. As Italy had nothing to offer to young people like me, I decided to throw my arms around Paris, as Oscar Wilde did, and I am still here. Like francophone actor Lino Ventura, I am and I will always be Italian.

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Récréation - New messages to cheer me up

Five long hours of work from remote. This morning, a bizarre and amusing dream helped me to wake up in time for my first cours à distance (I will never use the words distanciel and présentiel: I hate this abusive newspeak adopted since 2020 lockdown) and I have been working without having a break for three hours and a half, including the 20 minutes of récréation. I have just had a break now: I checked on Morrissey Central and found two new messages: a picture of a music shop

They bury the Living

Photograph above taken from this article about the impact of wars on climate change. Morrissey's song I bury the Living (music by Jesse Tobias) from the album Low in High School, released in 2017. I bury the Living is also the title of a 1958 horror film that Morrissey surely knows (he loves quoting weird and obscure films) and whose plot reminds me of something, but I surely did not watched it during my long boring Summer afternoons when I was a child: I probably heard about

In memory of all the Animals Victims of World War I and all the Stupid Wars before and after

On this day, I wish to pay a tribute to the Animals killed during World War I and all the stupid wars before and after. I obviously appreciate the sentiment, but I do not like at all the memorial monument inaugurated in Paris two years ago: it lacks emotion, as the animals' metal silhouettes are cold and anonymous and the presence of the man holding the pigeon superfluous. When I saw this monument, I disliked it so much that I did not even want to take a picture of it: the ph

Like Leaves in Autumn: Giuseppe Ungaretti and the Beauty of Poetry facing the Horrors of War

Little artwork by me, illustrating the poem Soldati (Soldiers, 1918) written by the great Italian modernist poet Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888-1970). I had the chance to start reading poems at a very early age, long before studying them at school, and I wrote my very first poem when I was eight. To me, Poetry carries every Life's Mysteries and it is like Oxygen: I could never imagine a World without Poetry, without Dead and Living Poets to read and to listen to and without Passi

The Harsh Truth of the Music Industry nowadays

About the music industry, social media, AI. It is not yet a whole article, but I involuntarily clicked on save and publish instead of let it in the drafts... Vera da Pozzo Paris, 11th November 2026 Below, a collection of interesting videos by Mark the Hammer, pseudonym of Marco Arata, Italian musician and YouTuber. "Taylor Swift è l'8° miglior chitarrista del mondo" (non è uno scherzo) Fare musica nel 2025 è un inferno Ho preso lezioni di chitarra con l'AI... fa schifo Ti clo

Bedtime

My head is about to explode. Thank God, tomorrow it's holiday in France and I will not have to remote work as today. Vera da Pozzo Paris, 10th November 2026 (C) Vera da Pozzo (C) Italy is Mine (C) Italy is Mine and It owes Me a Living

Winter Rain in Paris, Summer Sun in Tempe

The Rain falls hard on a humdrum Paris... Sing and Shine and raise the Temperature in Tempe tonight, Silver Boy! To YOU Vera da Pozzo Paris, 10th November 2026 Short message above and photo below by me. Tiny flowers in my beloved Parisian park They always close the park twenty minutes earlier than closing time. (C) Vera da Pozzo (C) Italy is Mine (C) Italy is Mine and It owes Me a Living #WinterRaininParisSummerSuninTempe #Paris #winter #rain #Summer #sun #Tempe #Arizona #Mor

A new Message to cheer Me up on a very Hard Day and my Thoughts about AI Assisted Music

Above: Far Parisian Banlieue, waiting for my train to take me back to Dear Old Paris. Photograph taken by me yesterday. Yesterday I had a very hard day in Alcatraz, too much boring digital work to do late in the morning and in the afternoon, and in the evening I was so exhausted that I left many articles sleeping in the drafts: one about my Sunday lunch with a Lovely Sparrow, another one on cuddling a Dog Afraid, and another about a fantastic trompe-l'œil... and an unfinished

I have a Dream - Trompe-l'œil in Paris

Yesterday evening, somewhere in Paris. Since my childhood, my gaze is naturally intrigued by the strangest things, images and written words I notice around me, and I am particularly fond of involuntary humour and other curious things, like this wonderful trompe-l'œil. Resized photo taken by me from a café in front of this Resthorrorant. Of course, I would never want the people in this building to die, but I dream of a world where meat and dairy were a bad memory from an emba

Dog Afraid enjoying my cuddles

No dog is too afraid to refuse my cuddles. :) This little cutie comes from Mexico; she is old and very shy, but also curious and interested in what happens around her. Photographs taken by me yesterday. Vera da Pozzo Paris, 10th November 2026 (C) Vera da Pozzo (C) Italy is Mine (C) Italy is Mine and It owes Me a Living #DogAfraidenjoyingmyCuddles #Paris #DogAfraid #cuddles #chihuahua #Mexico #dogs #kindness #beautifulcreatures #love #VeradaPozzo #ItalyisMine #italyismineandit

Pranzo della domenica / Sunday lunch

Sharing some bread with a lovely Sparrow on a freezing cold Sunday, somewhere in Paris. Vera da Pozzo 8th November 2026 Short article and photographs taken by me. (C) Vera da Pozzo (C) Italy is Mine (C) Italy is Mine and It owes Me a Living #pranzodelladomenica #sundaylunch #sparrow #sharingsomebreadwithbirds #freezingcoldsunday #feedingbirdsinParis #Sunday #Paris #birds #beautifulcreatures #love #photography #VeradaPozzo #ItalyisMine #italyismineanditowesmealiving

Alexander and I

A new friend: this lovely dog I met at the cabaret and karaoke bar tonight. Alexander came to me and kissed my hand while I was singing You spin Me round (like a Record) by Dead or Alive. Alexander clearly took the line "I want your love" very seriously. :D When I was a little child, I liked this song a lot and I found the video very funny, but I did not know the name of the singer (Pete Burns) nor that he and Morrissey were friends and that their friendship was over when Pet

Fantastic Blackbird in Texas

A little drawing made by me today, inspired by Morrissey's photograph in El Paso. Vera da Pozzo Paris, 8th November 2026 (C) Vera da Pozzo (C) Italy is Mine (C) Italy is Mine and It owes Me a Living #FantasticBlackbirdinTexas #FantasticBird #Blackbird #Morrissey #Texas #ElPaso #US2026Tour #music #photography #drawing #VeradaPozzo #ItalyisMine #italyismineanditowesmealiving

In memory of Georg Elser, the Unlucky Hero who stood alone against Hitler

Here's to You, Georg, Unlucky Hero, Working Class Self-taught Genius: You filled with Music your Hard Life And brought Joy to another Man's Wife You were a Christian, not a Bigot, And a Communist, not an Extremist; You never wanted to kill, but You had to You tried and You failed and were jailed And when the War was near to the end They killed and buried You with Shame For They could not accept that a Man Alone Could think by Himself and fight for All To Georg Elser (4 Januar

Morrissey in El Paso yesterday

A photograph and (below the screenshot) all the videos published by Alfred Rossy on YouTube. I hope more videos will appear this weekend. Picture taken by someone called Fabian and shared on Morrissey Central. Alma Matters. How Soon is Now? The More You ignore Me, the Closer I get. There are is a Light that never goes out. Irish Blood, English Heart. Everyday is like Sunday. Life is a Pigsty (and an incomplete video too, but "è sempre meglio di niente", so I will not complain

"Il segno del comando", or The Good Old Times of Italian RAI TV, when I was in God's Mind

1971. I still am in God's mind ("essere nella mente di Dio", as we say in Sicily, means "to not be born yet") and there I will stay for the most part of the Seventies; my Siblings are little kids and my Parents have not bought yet the Grundig black-and-white TV (I had a Proust's madeleine moment in Munich, last year, when I noticed Grundig's advertising panels at the station), so they watch the sceneggiati at our Aunt's and Uncle's home with our Cousins, who are teenagers, wh

Do You hear Me? (Poem for a Friend)

I am so Far, Yet so Near: Do You hear My Soft Voice Whispering In your Ear? My Dear Friend, Please don't mind: There's no End And You're Fine. To YOU Vera da Pozzo Paris, 7th November 2026, 1:30 A.M. Saturday Morning. Neighbours loudly quarrelling for no reason: as I could not sleep (I hate in general people talking loud, quarreling and screaming, and I hate it even more when it happens in the night time) I took my phone and wrote this poem for a friend... ... and when I fini

Empathy for an Insect

Yesterday Alcatraz was very calm because of the strike ("la grève, ce luxe bourgeois", as I often say, and I hope I will have the time to explain why in the next weeks) but during the last hour two girls were scared by an insect on their table: I told the girls to calm down, because there was no danger at all (99% of bugs are not harmful and they fear humans) and that they just should move to another table, while I would guide the insect outside through the window. I helped t

Ladybird Willpower has a Message for You

Sing and Shine tonight in El Paso, Fantastic Bird! Your Light never goes out. Be happy! :) To YOU Vera da Pozzo Photographs below taken by me today: a lovely Ladybird (Willpower) climbing very fast my dear Sophora Japonica. This lovely, tiny Creature wishes Morrissey a successful show tonight. :) Maybe the seven-spotted Ladybird thought I was a giant spotless Ladybird... Who knows? :) Below: a little drawing made by me for tonight's Morrissey's show in El Paso: Begonias, gre

Guy Fawkes was a Genius

In 1605 Europe, men had stylish moustache, wore ridiculous hats and made war instead of love; except for the ridiculous hats, nothing has really changed since then. In England, seven men tried to stop the persecution of Catholics by King James I, but they failed and they were brutally executed. The most famous among them is Guy Fawkes, and today I drew this homage in my diary. Below: details and the whole drawing made by me without any preparatory sketch. The portrait of Guy

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