«This silence that exists is too bad. Cicel’s death it cannot be forgotten.” And she doesn’t forget who, Cicel, knew him. He left at dawn on April 10th, Cicel, how does it happen to whomlike him, is defined as “invisible”.
The secular altar
He died, Cicel, at the foot of the bench that was his bed, in front of the church of San Tomaso in Verona. But Cicel was not at all “evanescent”. And neither is his death. The one which, in all likelihood, was induced by the beatings he had received a few hours before being found lifeless in that churchyard. In his wanderings among the Giarina gardens, Piazza Isolo and the Cicel center he had a world. That of those who had the street as their residence. And those who knew him, he met him every day. And he helped him. It coagulated in his memory, that world. He coagulated in asking for the truth about his death. And that bench on which he slept has become a secular altar in memory of Cicel. There are three red roses on that bench. A light, a plant, an article that commemorates his death, greetings from those who Cicel can no longer meet him. A black cloth. And a sign that was also scattered on other benches. The one that announces that «Friday 3 May at 6 pm at the church of San Tomasi we will remember our dear friend Cicel.” That secular altar has become a small place of memory. And of knowledge. There are many who stop and read Cicel’s story.
The red roses
«There are three roses, the number that represents love. Red, signifying energy. The one that died with his death. And the cloth represents mourning”, says whoever created that altar. “Above all, young people are stopping and this is a sign of hope.” And for Cicel, in that church, which he like many others who make their living on the streets have chosen as their “home”, there will be prayers on Tuesday. But not only. «It will be a meeting of humanity, of sharing» says Don Vincenzo Zambello who had become Cicel’s friend. A meeting that Don Vincenzo would like to become a source. A monthly appointment to talk to those of Cicel who share that life “invisible” to most. “Why – say his friends – perhaps we will never know the truth about those beatings, but he will not be forgotten.”
