THE POEM

The tired woman dreamer by Adeodato Piazza Nicolai

Exhausted, without water, without rhyme

to-and-frowing among the desert sands

with no road, without moon; invisible

boundary, cancelled each dim light you

go on with shuttered eyes never knowing

if you discover the crossing to the corrida.

Alone and naked you met the challenge.

A thorn drove you ahead while doubt

eroded each step you took:

where's the magus that calls you? Why all

alone to cross a barrier if the goal

is forever dark, ever changing and turning?

Crystal filaments like spent torches the

fingers lifting you up to somewhere else;

flaming black lights invite to the dance

beyond the passage, the horizon, the sea

without foam. Come, maid Yannarosa

pass the stone wall erasing your fear –

from a match won springs forth pure air.

(Translation by the author)

Salento. Photo by Emilio Nicolì

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