On being human

When my mother went to hospital
after a fall alone in her bedroom
I was eighteen miles away
trying to build a house

I visited her later
and something in my face made her say
“I thought you’d feel terrible”
and she meant that I’d be devastated
by what had happen to her
?I wasn’t feeling anything very much
at the time and I guess it showed
just thinking I’d have to travel
those eighteen miles every day
to visit her and grumbling to myself
At the moment
she had seen behind the shutters
normally drawn across the human face
and suddenly realized
there wasn’t much if any
affection for her in my face
and that knowledge
was worse than her injuries Continua a leggere→

di Yehuda Amichai

In the middle of this century we turned to each other
With half faces and full eyes
Like an ancient Egyptian picture
And for a short while.

I stroked your hair
In the opposite direction to your journey,
We called to each other,
Like calling out the names of towns
Where nobody stops
Along the route. Continua a leggere→

A small moment

I walk into the bakery next door
To my apartment. They are about
To pull some sort of toast with cheese
From the oven. When I ask:
What’s that smell? I am being
A poet, I am asking

What everyone else in the shop
Wanted to ask, but somehow couldn’t;
I am speaking on behalf of two other
Customers who wanted to buy the
Name of it. I ask the woman
Behind the counter for a percentage
Of her sale. Am I flirting?
Am I happy because the days
Are longer? Here’s what

She does: She takes her time
Choosing the slices. “I am picking
Out the good ones, “she tells me. It’s
April 14th. Spring, with five to ten
Degrees to go. Some days, I feel my duty;
Some days, I love my work.
Continua a leggere→

Noi siamo pasta di niente. L’ultima raccolta di Filippo Ravizza dà l’allerta dell’ultimo viaggio. Anzi, talvolta trasmette il rimpianto che il tempo sia trascorso interamente. Che il treno sia passato, lasciandoci soli sul binario. Molti di questi versi appaiono velati da una cataratta nichilista che occulta la luce sapienziale. (…) Sarà un tempo breve amico/ mio. Il tuo e il mio, sarà/ dal nulla al nulla senza saperlo,/ ignorando il vuoto che per poco/ ci ha ospitato.

Continua a leggere→

Love after Love

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life. Continua a leggere→