Italy is mine

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

Well, it is not a secret, but let's repeat it: the current Government is one of the worst that Italy have ever had, and it is the rotten fruit of decades of gerontocracy, berlusconism (an extremely aggressive and appallingly vulgar evolution of the existing corruption), and agony of progressist Left - even if it could seem a tautology, nowadays, the Left is not always progressist. There are seven millions (!!!) of Italian expats throughout the world, and most of them are, li

Friday. As the rain fell hard just in the late afternoon, I could enjoy a fresh morning with the sun playing pick-a-boo from behind the clouds, while having a pleasant walk and taking few photos of flowers and places. This playground (see photo below) makes me think of the music video of Playground Twist (1979) by Siouxsie and the Banshees: four decades later, I was reminded of it by Morrissey's pre-show at Vicar Street in 2023. Astoundingly, even if I had seen it only once,

Too busy this month to check my personal mailboxes, this evening I found an e-mail received twelve days ago: the association L214 asking to fill in a feedback form about the vegan march "Fermons les abattoirs" ("Let's close the slaughterhouses") I joined on 3rd October. I was very happy to join the march, so my only suggestion for the next edition is to make the vegan food stand more visible and with more and cheaper choices, in order to prove to the non-vegan or non-vegetari

I am tired of the Human Rage And I need to turn the Page The Train is running so fast That Cows and Calves are just White Spots on a Green Landscape And I know They cannot escape I see Them, so Peaceful and Quiet While in Paris it's Chaos and Riot People want to rest in Peace After having lived through Wars While They want to live in Peace And to die when Nature calls I look from the Train at these Charolaises And I wonder Who cares about Them I certainly do, and I dream of a

Eighteen Months without You Never will I get through But I know, I do know When I see a White Dove It is You from Above And I stop feeling low. To the Unique and Irreplaceable One Vera da Pozzo On the rails 17th October A. D. MMXXVI Poem and detail of the artwork above by me. I drew it on my diary early this afternoon in Paris: it is more a sketch than a proper drawing because I had a very short time before leaving the Ville Lumière, but I love the non finito effect and also

[Paris, 12th October 2026, 1:00 A.M.] A new message from Morrissey on Central, about his favourite albums and singles from his own repertoire. The title of his post is clearly a hint to In my Life (1965), one of my favourite Beatles' songs, and God knows how I needed a message like this one to cheer me up just now. I am back from the karaoke night with bittersweet feelings: a kind, unexpected gift from F., an old habitué; cheerful people, as usual; three guys/girls singing-a-

The night of the very first Smiths' concert, opening for Blue Rondo à la Turk at The Ritz with Dale Hibbert on the bass, before Andy Rourke joined the band and contributed to their unique sound. Hibbert, the recording producer and short-time Smiths' bassist, shared few years ago the recording of The Cookies's song I want a Boy for my Birthday covered by Morrissey and Marr that night; however, it is a studio recording made in August 1982, and not a live recording from "An Eve

Paris, place de la République, 3rd October: vegan stands and L214 animal rights march supporting the end of the bloody business of the meat industry. I am very disappointed that the Mairie de Paris and the Préfecture de Police have rescheduled the Animal Rights March and the Pride March on the same day: last Summer, both marches were cancelled, due to the extreme heat, but they were scheduled on different dates. I smell a vile attempt to limit the number of participants to th

Gabriel, my favourite Angel: God's left hand and the Gentle Rock, the One who brings Good News to Good People of Good Will. Drawing below made by me with a black Bic pen last Sunday; I coloured it with shiny gel pens this morning. The image of a Gentle Rock makes me think of a very well-known Smiths' song (here in its live version from the beautiful concert at the 3Arena in Dublin that started Morrissey's 2025 Summer tour) because Kindness is Strength. Today's drawing is for

Yesterday I came early to the bar and I left very late because we made a toast (I just took an apple juice; I drink alcool on rare occasions) for Y. who leaves the bar for new, exciting adventures and who also wished to celebrate his birthday with us. Y. is a talented artist and a nice person; it is a pity that he hates Morrissey "because of his views", but bad, biased press, combined with social media shitspreading, is a plague. As I arrived early, I could sing thrice. My fi

Two great singing voices and tortured souls died in 1977: Elvis Presley on 16th August and Maria Callas on 16th September. I was not yet born at that time, thus, to me, Elvis and la Callas have always been shining in the Dead Stars Constellation, whilst their voice and their art are eternal. Last Sunday I drew a double tribute to Maria Callas and Elvis Presley on my diary: I started from Maria's portrait, then I drew the portrait of Elvis and, since they both are in black, I

When The Smiths split because Johnny Marr left the band, I was just a child in primary school and I found it was such a pity, but, since then, I have never wished The Smiths made up, and I have never hoped the creative tandem Morrissey & Marr came back and worked together again. The Smiths is dead since 1987 and, after a short time when Craig Gannon, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce played together at the very beginning of Morrissey's solo career, all former band members embraced,

A wise advice from a Friend Below: picture taken by me yesterday in my beloved park. Vera da Pozzo Paris, 24th May 2026 (C) Vera da Pozzo (C) Italy is Mine (C) Italy is Mine and It owes Me a Living #WiseAdvice #life #freedom #love #SheilatakeaBow #TheSmiths #Morrissey #JohnnyMarr #music #VeradaPozzo #ItalyisMine #italyismineanditowesmealiving

Inspired by the 1964 play Eh?, written by Henry Livings, the film was produced four years later. Directed by Peter Hall and starring David Warner and Cilla Black, Work is a four-letter Word is not available on DVD but it can be watched on YouTube and it will be a nice divertissement tonight. The original film's title song by Cilla Black (a singer I do like, whom I discovered through The Beatles before knowing that Morrissey was a fan of her) and the "infamous" cover by The Sm

As I am going to work, I have just the time to post my favourite artwork inspired by Saint Sebastian: the stunningly beautiful picture by the great Renaissance painter Antonello from Messina. I was a very young and extremely curious child who found the best nourishment in books, art and music, and I have always been fascinated by the iconography of Saint Sebastian, and Antonello's masterwork is my favourite because of Sebastian's stoic expression of resignation and His inner

Johnny Marr is undoubtedly a very talented and skilled guitarist and he did a great work when he was just out of his teens in a crowded and extremely lively music scene in Manchester and The Smiths came "to disturb the peace", as James Baldwin said during his famous talk at New York City's Community Church in 1962. In a crowded and extremely lively music scene in Manchester, The Smiths emerged as a band of "ordinary boys" who did not just want to be famous, but who were det

Last year I had not the time to write something about one of my favourites songs by The Smiths, but I made this drawing, taking my inspiration from the Australian sleeve of the single. Here is my artwork: Below, the Australian sleeve for Ask , with Cemetry Gates as the B-side. Photograph by Jo Novark. Cemetry Gates is another of my favourite Smiths songs: I was blessed to listen to both of these songs live, at my very first Morrissey's concert at the Paris Zénith in 2009.

Morrissey as Saint Francis. Drawing made by me, on my diary, as usual, i. d., by using a Bic pen without preparatory sketch. 4th October is Saint Francis day and also the anniversary of The Smiths first concert in 1982. (C) Vera da Pozzo (C) Italy is Mine (C) Italy is Mine and It owes Me a Living #FrancescodAssisi #FrancisofAssisi #SanFrancesco #SaintFrancis #Nature #Peace #Animals #Morrissey #TheSmiths

Today, Terence Stamp's journey on Earth has ended ; he was 87 years old and his name and fame are so well established that he does not...