“You will find them, soldier, in your/ history in the shape of streams, of animals,/ or are you, too, ash of Auschwitz,/ medal of silence? [...] no to death, dead in Auschwitz,/ to never repeat, from that pit/ of ashes, death.” #SalvatoreQuasimodo #LestWeForget the horrors Man is capable of. Ad AuschwitzSalvatore QuasimodoLaggiù, ad Auschwitz, lontano…Read more Salvatore Quasimodo: Ad Auschwitz/ In Auschwitz
Matilda Colarossi: Grasses/ Erbacce
GrassesAfter immigrating to Canada, my father returned to Italy almost every summer for over twenty years.The land where his family home rises is surrounded by trees; but mostly, it is infested with grasses, some so wild and thick it takes an axe to fell their short but hardy lives. My father’s whipper snipper would echo…Read more Matilda Colarossi: Grasses/ Erbacce
Giorgio Caproni: Oh cari/ Oh dear ones…
Giorgio Caproni said his poetry was “in shirt sleeves” until, after editing, it wore a jacket. But whether in shirt sleeves or jacket, it is an extraordinary thing of complex simplicity. Oh cari Apparivano tutti in trasparenza. Tutti in anima. Tutti nell’imprescindibile essenzaDell’ombra. Ma vivi Vivi dentro la morte come…Read more Giorgio Caproni: Oh cari/ Oh dear ones…
Trilussa: La tartaruga/ The tortoise
It's always hard to translate dialect or, rather, slang. Slang can be so diverse. Trilussa enjoys writing in Romanesco, the dialect of Rome. I did my best, and maybe I failed, but the meaning here goes far beyond the words: live your life to the fullest; ride your scooter until you're almost 97 years old;…Read more Trilussa: La tartaruga/ The tortoise
parallel texts: words reflected 