Among the living poets of Ticino, Ugo Petrini is perhaps the quietest, one who has never sought fame or accolades. Since 1987, he has regularly published slim collections of poetry through small presses or as bibliophile private prints, which a critic has characterized as "quiet alarm calls of a particularly sensitive individual," alarm calls to a world that has lost much of its original soul. Petrini's poetry is always in search of this soul; it is found in people close to him, such as his father, grandmother, and individuals from his surroundings like the hairdresser or the village conductor. But the poet also pays attention to other soulful beings, such as birds, squirrels, or the cat Birba. Indeed, even a bicycle, a house wall, or a lollipop gains a soul through Petrini's art. An art that is shaped by the most precise observations.