Poem
Davide Rondoni
An Italian Evening
The chequered tablecloth in the whitelight.
And in the evening.
It would be enough to see
it is evening,
see it at all the tables
of the building
half littered from dinner
or empty with only the remote control
reflected in the blank screen.
It would be enough for the fists clenched without a glass
to open –
suddenly
they would turn over to beg
beating on the table
and on the flat bone of loneliness.
One would see
many men,
many men with their heads bent, thick
tongues,
silent before the screen, in the white light,
of the evening.
Her goat muzzle, spring would
put it in those hands to graze,
confident.
© Translation: 2003, Gabriele Poole
Sera italiana
Sera italiana
La tovaglia quadrettata nella lucebianca.
E nella sera.
Basterebbe vedere
che è sera,
vederla a tutti i tavoli
del condominio
mezzo ingombri dalla cena
o spogli con su il telecomando
riflessi nel video spento.
Basterebbe ai pugni chiusi senza bicchiere
per aprirsi -
di scatto
si rovescerebbero a mendicare
battendo sul tavolo
e sull\'osso piatto della solitudine.
Si vedrebbero
molti uomini,
molti uomini dalla fronte bassa, dalla grossa
lingua,
muti ai video, alla luce bianca,
dentro la sera.
Il suo muso di capretta la primavera
metterebbe a brucare in quelle mani,
confidente.
© 1999, Davide Rondoni
From: Il bar del tempo
Publisher: Guanda, Milano
From: Il bar del tempo
Publisher: Guanda, Milano
Poems
Poems of Davide Rondoni
Close
An Italian Evening
The chequered tablecloth in the whitelight.
And in the evening.
It would be enough to see
it is evening,
see it at all the tables
of the building
half littered from dinner
or empty with only the remote control
reflected in the blank screen.
It would be enough for the fists clenched without a glass
to open –
suddenly
they would turn over to beg
beating on the table
and on the flat bone of loneliness.
One would see
many men,
many men with their heads bent, thick
tongues,
silent before the screen, in the white light,
of the evening.
Her goat muzzle, spring would
put it in those hands to graze,
confident.
© 2003, Gabriele Poole
From: Il bar del tempo
From: Il bar del tempo
An Italian Evening
The chequered tablecloth in the whitelight.
And in the evening.
It would be enough to see
it is evening,
see it at all the tables
of the building
half littered from dinner
or empty with only the remote control
reflected in the blank screen.
It would be enough for the fists clenched without a glass
to open –
suddenly
they would turn over to beg
beating on the table
and on the flat bone of loneliness.
One would see
many men,
many men with their heads bent, thick
tongues,
silent before the screen, in the white light,
of the evening.
Her goat muzzle, spring would
put it in those hands to graze,
confident.
© 2003, Gabriele Poole
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