Mar sanguigno (Offerta al nostro buon vecchio Dio)

A storm‑laden evening finds a curious narrator gathered in a dim villa with eight ancient mariners, the last living links to the sea’s forgotten legends. The men sit silent, their weathered bodies and cracked eyes bearing the weight of centuries of voyages across the Adriatic, while the rain hammers the windows and a pungent mix of tar, tobacco and church incense hangs in the air. The narrator, aided by a faithful friend, decides to coax their stories by asking seemingly simple questions, hoping to untangle the tangled memories of these “scientists of the sea.”

As the old sailors begin to speak, a chorus of half‑laughs, coughs and hesitant recollections emerges, each tale colored by age and the absurdity of trying to recall a youth long past. Their voices rise like creaking timbers, revealing a mosaic of triumphs, betrayals and the relentless pull of the ocean. Listeners are drawn into a vivid portrait of fading glory, where the line between myth and reality blurs, and the act of listening becomes a small act of reverence for a world that has already begun to sink beneath the waves.