Poem

Giampiero Neri

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Original language

BOTANICAL VARIETY

The kind of plant
that lives in arid places
resorts to defending itself
with hard bark
and large spines.
But the variety of Opuntia,
its Latin name mirabilis,
puts its tiny thorns out
only at the intruder’s approach.

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

VARIETÀ BOTANICA

VARIETÀ BOTANICA

Si tiene alle difese
la specie delle piante
che vive in luoghi aridi,
con la dura corteccia
e grosse spine.
Ma la varietà della Opuntia,
mirabilis è il nome latino,
scaglia le sue minute frecce
al solo avvicinarsi dell’intruso.

© 1998, Giampiero Neri
From: Teatro naturale
Publisher: Mondadori, Milan

Giampiero Neri

Giampiero Neri

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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That pastry and coffee house in Como

NATURE

A NOTE FROM 1926

TWO TIMES

FRESHWATER FISH

MIMESIS

BOTANICAL VARIETY

BOREALIS

Of those uncertain shadows

Close

BOTANICAL VARIETY

The kind of plant
that lives in arid places
resorts to defending itself
with hard bark
and large spines.
But the variety of Opuntia,
its Latin name mirabilis,
puts its tiny thorns out
only at the intruder’s approach.

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

BOTANICAL VARIETY

The kind of plant
that lives in arid places
resorts to defending itself
with hard bark
and large spines.
But the variety of Opuntia,
its Latin name mirabilis,
puts its tiny thorns out
only at the intruder’s approach.

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

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