by Guido Monte
Multilingual Poetry
Translated by Adele Ward
Underwater © 2000 Nicola Spacca |
(Swans - August 12, 2013)
periphery: old inhabited caravans,
gipsy shanty towns
close to the apartment blocks,
lone cats, solitary dogs,
some killed and drowned
in the stream of the sewers.
rubbish everywhere,
stench, open air landfills.
and you, slaughtered dog?
you who were thrown away,
your life didn't count.
you shouted to the world,
barked into infinity
but nobody listened to you.
you are invisible,
your pain is invisible,
tu dolor es invisible.
i want to forget the eyes
of tortured animals,
the faces of women disfigured by acid,
the bodies of phocomelic babies,
the bodies of amputees in refugee camps,
i would like to forget
but i can't.
and verses are of no use,
los versos son inutile.
le somos indiferentes,
we are indifferent to it.
is the pain still real
if we don't feel it in our own skin?
is horror still horror
if it doesn't travel in our own flesh?
Spanish words by Olga Milazzo.
picture: Underwater, by Nicola Spacca (2000).
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Guido Monte on Swans (with bio). Also, please check Guido's entry on Wikipedia. (back)