Swans Commentary » swans.com October 6, 2008  

 

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by Guido Monte & Alison Phipps

 

Multilingual Poetry

 

...di sospiri che l'aura etterna facevan tremare
...les soupirs qui tremblent dans les échos de l'air
...of sighs resounding in the eternal air
—Dante A., Inferno IV 27
(French translation by Marie Rennard)

limbus © 2008 Giuseppe Quattrocchi

 

 

(Swans - October 6, 2008)  

j'attends, as still living, the dead
les héros muets
sospiri di bambini
childrens' breaths

"The baby's gone
she is gone"
so klein
so ganz klein

she is gone

fleurs hata zikibashiva

from the garden at dawn
dripping with
dew

larmes, Traenen
dew-dropping tears

bright autumn's
blooms
on the white
wood

stems

even to be broken
even to be burned

memoria
("the whole world
is made of memories"
She says.)
recoubra
na hanyate, peut-être
memory can save what never dies, maybe
tout se sépare et tout se rencontre

saudade

...we once again otages de l'obscurité? prisoners of darkness?
Not when the wood
is white
and she flies
on white wheels
round the island
of skies
réalité sans paroles

limbus limbes limbo obscuridad
waiting warten auf forever
vakuum sea closed

Ashes to ashes

Le tenebre
n'est point

tenebre.  (ne tiendront?)

Devant toi. beside you

deha deha ciao
(tout se sépare et tout se rencontre...)

 

 

It is good to think with others about how languages find their way into the cracks and crevices of our lives -- how they create a gossamer of relatedness which always has an unpredictable feel and future. (A. Phipps)

Hata zikibashiva in Sheng language, means "even to be broken."

Alison Phipps is Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies at the University of Glasgow.

Drawing: limbus, by Giuseppe Quattrocchi (2008).

 

 

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Internal Resources

Poetry

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About the Author

Guido Monte on Swans (with bio). Also, please check Guido's entry on Wikipedia.

 

Legalese

Please, feel free to insert a link to this work on your Web site or to disseminate its URL on your favorite lists, quoting the first paragraph or providing a summary. However, please DO NOT steal, scavenge, or repost this work on the Web or any electronic media. Inlining, mirroring, and framing are expressly prohibited. Pulp re-publishing is welcome -- please contact the publisher. This material is copyrighted, © Guido Monte 2008. All rights reserved.

 

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