Thank you Maddy for the translation
The muse shows me the choice I have
In vita (in life)
Am I but a lie in your presence
Ignorant of a trespassers kiss
Yet, I bleed from my eyes
Tears of vermillion
Smudged ruby, blackening a face
Of alabaster dreaming
Can such as this be endured
Rested on a bosom
Pierced through a heart
Feathers caress the air, in a flight
Of angels, chorusing salvation
Nella morte (in death)
Silent breath kisses a soul
Such as this
Yet a single strand of hair
Will garrote a neck as lithe
Chaste lain bare
Ask me in a lasting breath of forever
Did you love me?
Ever?
Shadows remain in your presence
On a wall
Marked in silhouette
Of a past love
Lacking the celibacy of a prostitute
Healing a wanton soul
For a tinkle of ivory stars
You where never mine
As I was yours
Messages in code
Blanket the night
Delicate, in secrecy
For others have ears
As Diablo has eyes
And for you
My lasting breath
sarà tuo il mio ultimo bacio?
Will my last kiss be yours
6 comments:
Mmm... the other language drops is glittering words into the melting pot like jewels which stud a piece of jewellery. Lovely...
the agony and angst of the lover, conveyed through lovely evocative images!
I love the premise of this poem and the way you have developed your theme for the length of the poem, using critical questions at exactly the right moments.
Good to see you first again on Real Toads.
Hiya Adrian,
Loved this: a wonderful collaboration of translator and poet. And what a poem it is! I wish I would be able to understand the original version, but Italian is outside my ken.
So glad Kerry stepped in with the comment box.
Lovely messages of life and death ~ Yet if given the choice, we would choose love all over again, even if its our last breath ~
i feel your struggle in this...and i like your walk through the questions as well...some interesting phrasing too which is always a perk for me...Lacking the celibacy of a prostitute
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