Before it all fades

MATCH

match
lights
cigarette
drag
butt
on the ground

DEAD DOG

dog
dead
neither
sky
nor
stars
a
sack
full
black

WITHOUT GOD

Bent
stained napkin
table laid
celebration
family seated
without God

RIO NEGRO

two rivers
carve beds
where
they will never sleep
together

BARE ROOM

I slam the door
bare room
skin
wet with rain
prints itself
on the mattress
without springs

SECOND-HAND VISION

dreamless
I leave
the night
behind me
a vision
second-hand

TIME

sitting
in the armchair
or standing
before the painting
in the room
I want
to recover
names
never spoken
places
without an address
smells
without taste
images
without a face
thoughts
unsigned
before
it all fades

ROUGH SLEEPERS

Wretches
in caves
of plastic
in a row
like crosses
in a cemetery
abandoned
sleep
invisible

CHAIR

you see only a chair
I the chair
of the king
of the office manager
of the police commissioner
of lovers
of the child who cannot sit still at school
of the grandmother sitting and talking with friends
of the tortured prisoner
of dinner with friends on Saturday night
of the man condemned to the electric chair
or Antonio who climbed onto it to hang himself
a chair is only a chair
to you

MOKA

sound of the moka
taste of coffee
fragrant awakening
for a day
of shit

TROPEA ONION

you slice the heart
like a Tropea onion
you cry
toss it
in the pan
with butter and sage
I never thought
you would take it literally
I told you
take my heart

WHEN I AM GONE

When
I am gone
I will not notice
any word
will be
a sound that
never arrives

CHINESE PINE

Tree
of Chinese pine
Christmas
false wishes
like a
fifty-euro note
cannot even buy
on via del Campo
a love
to warm
IKEA room
sitting on the sofa
you sleep
with a painting
behind you
by Modigliani
bought on Temu
with the hope
of waking
on January 7
the year
you choose

PAOLO, IMMIGRANT

Paolo immigrant
privileged
white
Italian
European
yet even so
I was told
in Lusitanian land
go back home
Define what home is
the whole world
for a day or a thousand
choosing
the prison
where you want to live
and bury
my father

BUILDING

Building without plaster
in any outskirts
Occupied building
cleared by police
Vela building
in Pulcinella's city
Building demolished
by controlled
explosion
Building demolished
by bombs not
controlled
Biscione-shaped building
home to
immigrants
from the south
by the light of the Lanterna
I
abandoned building
yield to time

BEWARE OF THE WOLF

Children
do not go play
in the woods
you may meet the wrong people
a judge
a social worker
a carabiniere
they will lock you in a foster home
irony
calling it family

THE GREAT GIG IN THE SKY

I sang death
for thirty pounds
the song over
face washed
body ravaged
my name is
Clare

THUNDER

Thunder
warrior shut
in the circus
not eagle feathers
but turkey
axe that cut
the London fog
burned the lungs
headstone
with a wolf
carved
standing guard
in Brompton Cemetery
Elisabeth searched for you
without knowing you
to take you back to Pine Ridge
South Dakota
among drums
and songs
the children
in silence
watched Long Wolf
dance
in battle
Thunder

I AM A FRIDGE

I am a fridge
almost empty
yet another
opens the door
the light inside
comes on
over a pot of yoghurt
gone off
four eggs
a plate of spaghetti
with tomato sauce
two days old
you close it again
leave me in the dark
with my thoughts
cold
I wish I were
an oven
with lasagne
steaming.

SUMMER IN CAMOGLI

Sky
moon
stars
sea
postcard
for tourists
Golfo Paradiso
square
festival
frying pan
oil
fried fish
wine
white
cold
cats
among the nets
pissed-off fishermen
beach
of wet
stones
bonfire
beer
grass
stray dogs
around the fire
under the lido
above me
we fuck

ROOM 26

Die
today!
I do not want
to see you
hear
the crying
IV drip
smell of
disinfectant
will not erase
the void
I will carry
in my belly

EXCUSE ME, MA'AM

Excuse me, ma'am
have you seen my time?
I got distracted
it ran away
shall we look for it?
Can I help you
I have time
when we find it
we can let them
play together
while we watch
the time
we have left.

2002

2002
a car racing
rain
sign
emergency room
white coats
and blue
wander hollow-eyed
through the wards
people
at the door
waiting
to be called
I hold your hand
in mine
and feel the pain
enter my bones
the door opens
says:
it was a miscarriage
today
23 years
and a sex
still to discover
we still do not know
which sugared almonds to buy
blue or pink

NIGHTMARE

tormenting me
is not enough for you
the skin
the blood given
on the morgue table
after giving birth to me
I cannot
even mourn
the memory of you
mother
father

DOCTOR MOSCATI

bitter
sun
of Naples
dirty coat
trembling ash
wounded flesh
listens
examines
sleep
a luxury
even dying
sitting

LIBERA NOS

Free
to reveal
a dark part
of me
kept hidden
in the grey waters
of a well
dug by hand

CESARE

Cesare I live without a trade
I have time
to sniff
memories of moss
damp earth
a stone fallen
into water
and
I survive

WATER BOILS ON THE STOVE

Water boils on the stove
dirty plates
toilet paper
like silk napkins
an empty chair
for a long time
breadcrumbs
on the table
I talk
with a glass
in my hand
and wait for you
to throw in
the spaghetti

STOREROOM

I am
shut inside
a storeroom
I go out
twice a day
like dogs
in kennels
straight after
shut in again
in front
a large
window
where the sun
warms
eyes
wash the glass
I see the wind
move the trees
me
with them

STANDING

Standing
I get out of bed
put on pants and socks
open the door
follow scents
lemon basil
market
shouts
between the stalls
a voice
that reaches
my
feet
as they load me
into the ambulance