Nico Orengo: Non trovi più niente / Nothing more to find

“turn the page and you find:
a war,
a war with many soldiers;
turn the page and you find:
the injured,”

Nothing more to find but greed…as if, as my mother was known to say, they could take it with them they die.

Non trovi più niente

Nico Orengo

Capitan del gran valore,
volta la carta e trovi:
un bel fiore,
un bel fiore che sta in giardino;
volta la carta e trovi:
un canarino,
un canarino che porta un cartello;
volta la carta e trovi:
un uccello,
un uccello che becca il grano;
volta la carta e trovi:
un villano,
un villano che zappa la terra;
volta la carta e trovi:
una guerra,
una guerra con tanti soldati;
volta la carta e trovi:
i malati,
i malati che stanno nei letti;
volta al carta e trovi:
i confetti,
i confetti che son così buoni;
volta la carta e trovi:
i ladroni,
i ladroni che assaltan la gente;
volta la carta e
non trovi più niente.

Nothing more to find

Nico Orengo

Captain of great valour
turn the page and you find:
a lovely flower,
a lovely flower in the rockery;
turn the page and you find:
a canary,
a canary holding a placard;
turn the page and you find:
a bird,
a bird pecking at wheat;
turn the page and you find:
a peasant,
a peasant hoeing the earth;
turn the page and you find:
a war,
a war with many soldiers;
turn the page and you find:
the injured,
the injured confined to cots;
turn the page and you find:
sweets,
sweets that are delightful;
turn the page and you find:
scoundrels,
scoundrels who assault mankind;
turn the page and
there’s nothing more to find.

Translation ©Matilda Colarossi 2026

I translated this same poem in 2020: https://paralleltexts.blog/2020/07/27/nico-orengo-non-trovi-piu-niente-there-will-be-nothing-left/. I like to retranslate rhyme: there are so many possibilities, so many sounds to mix and match, and every poem can take on a different hue. I had named the last version “And there will be nothing left”. I wonder at times what is left of this world, but today I am sure that beyond greed, there is almost nothing more to find.

Image: Lucio Fontana, Cristo, 1955-56. Polychrome glazed ceramic

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/