Poem

Giampiero Neri

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The drought was drying up the source

The drought was drying up the source of the Lambro. People
walked over the cracked earth of the river bed,
between the rocks. In a puddle of water, a school of fish had remained,
still alive.

© Translation: 2009, Ron Banerjee
From: Natural Theater. Selected Poems 1976–2009 by Giampiero Neri
Publisher: Chelsea Editions, New York, 2009

The drought was drying up the source

In de zomer viel de monding van de Lambro droog. Je liep
op de gebarsten bodem in de bedding, tussen de stenen.
In een plas water was een hele vissenfamilie
in leven gebleven.

La siccità inaridiva la foce del Lambro. Si camminava sulla
terra screpolata nel letto del fiume, fra i sassi.
In una pozza d’acqua era rimasta una famiglia di pesci,
ancora vivi.

Giampiero Neri

(Italy, 1927)

Giampiero Neri (the pseudonym of Giampietro Pontiggia) was born in Erba, in the province of Como, in 1927. He lives in Milan. His life has been marked by tragic events – the death of his father, who was killed when Giampiero was sixteen, the suicide of a sister in her twenties – which appear, however, only indirectly in his poetry. A bank employee, he has cultivated entomological and literary i...

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Poems of Giampiero Neri

The drought was drying up the source

The drought was drying up the source of the Lambro. People
walked over the cracked earth of the river bed,
between the rocks. In a puddle of water, a school of fish had remained,
still alive.

© 2009, Ron Banerjee
From: Natural Theater. Selected Poems 1976–2009 by Giampiero Neri
Publisher: 2009, Chelsea Editions, New York

The drought was drying up the source

The drought was drying up the source of the Lambro. People
walked over the cracked earth of the river bed,
between the rocks. In a puddle of water, a school of fish had remained,
still alive.

© 2009, Ron Banerjee
From: Natural Theater. Selected Poems 1976–2009 by Giampiero Neri
Publisher: 2009, Chelsea Editions, New York