Dectina Refrain, Poem

My Dad’s Lesson: Dectina Refrain

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

When my father emigrated to the US
from Sicily, he was given advice that
changed  his  life. With that in mind,
this is my response to dVerse Poetics:
For the Love of the Broadsheet.
I have chosen a Dectina Refrain.

Do
not keep
reading the
Italian news;
you will never learn
to speak English, my friend.
Put down the Il Progresso
and start reading the New York Times.
A life-changing lesson for my Dad.
Do not keep reading the Italian news.

 NAR©2025

This is “New York State Of Mind” by Billy Joel

Poetics: For the love of the broadsheet

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy ~ The Sicilian Storyteller, Nancy (The Sicilian Storyteller), The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk, and The Rhythm Section, and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

44 thoughts on “My Dad’s Lesson: Dectina Refrain”

  1. You’ve used this fascinating form so brilliantly, Nancy. I can only imagine the discipline it took and the triumph he must have felt as he mastered the language completely. I hope he kept his Italian accent though. 🙂

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  2. You’ve used this fascinating so brilliantly, Nancy. I can only imagine the discipline it must have taken your father and the triumph he must have felt in mastering the language in this way.

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  4. Very sage advice. And nicely done. Your father was smart to heed it.

    My friend’s parents came here and learned English and insisted they speak it in the house. They figured new country, must learn how things work here. Unfortunately, it also meant they didn’t teach Italian to their kids!

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    1. You have no idea how common that it and how many times I’ve heard that story! I understand the parent’s reasoning but it’s a great dis-service to their kids. My parents spoke English, Italian and their Sicilian dialect. It was like the Tower of Babel in my house when I was a kid! 😄

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Dale.

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      1. I know! It truly is. I love that your parents made sure you spoke all three. Our house was always English and French. Weirdly, the three sisters all spoke to their babies in French before somewhere switching to English. I sent my kids to French school so we speak a mix all the time. Same with my sisters and mother. Someone sits at our table, it would be best to be bilingual coz they’ll get dizzy.

        💞

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    1. Thank you, Yvette, for your lovely comments.
      When my father emigrated to the US, he looked at his new home as the land of opportunity, and it was … but opportunities are earned and rewarded to those who make an effort to better themselves. He wasn’t given any handouts (not that he would have taken them). He worked hard and proved himself worthy of his new home.
      This is a great lesson for everyone.

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  6. I love how you wrote this, Nancy. 😊 And such good advice too, to be able to learn a different language! ✍️ Thanks for sharing a part of your history, definitely interesting! 💕

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    1. When I think about my dad coming over from Sicily as a young teen, unable to communicate with anyone other than his family, I am in awe of him. What he did took a lot of determination. 🌟

      I love the Dectina Refrain form of poetry; it’s fun but also a real challenge. Thanks for your excellent comments, Laura. They are greatly appreciated. ☺️

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      1. You are most welcome! 😀 Yes it had to have been so intimidating for him, but he did it. I admire that. It takes a lot of courage, patience, and effort.

        This poem form is definitely interesting, I’ll have to check it out more ✨

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  9. My dad had quite passable English when emigrated to the US, but he also scoured the local news every morning, and the Wallstreet journal, front to back. He wanted to enter that culture as well.

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  11. I never immigrated but, I travelled, and wherever I went I read the papers. I had some schooling in Spanish and that helped in Europe. Now I speak a few words of a lot of languages. Good advice.

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    1. Dad was 13 when he emigrated in 1928 with his father and 2 brothers. None of them spoke a word of English. Ten years later, when he met my mother, he was fluent in two languages. My father was the only one of the four to learn English.

      TN, I can relate to your comment in another way. I attended a German-Lutheran school for 12 years and studied German for 8 of those years (long story). Today my knowledge of German is a smattering of phrases I will never use unless I need to ask someone if they’ve seen my umbrella or if Gertrude is going to the dance!

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      1. Your father based on all you have written about him sounds like a very special man.
        It took me a number of years to dedicate myself fully to my adopted country. It was hard letting go of my former identity and embracing the new. But that hard work over 15 years is now paying dividends finally..thank God.

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        1. My dad was a good man, Matt …. proud of the land of his birth and his adopted country. He loved his family, food, music, and entertaining friends. He overcame hardships and never lost the sparkle in his light blue eyes. He was very proud to be Sicilian and passed that pride on to me.

          You will never regret working hard for something you desire.

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          1. Thanks for distilling aspects of your father’s character, passions and his pride towards his heritage.
            ‘You will never regret working hard for something you desire’. – This is such an awesome line. Almost no truer words have been written .

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      1. Yes, I get that. For us, in a non-English speaking country, newspapers were a window to the world as well as a way to expand our vocabulary before the advent of social media.

        You are very welcome. I am so happy you enjoyed the prompt.

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