Hewn from silence, one by one
those fragments
and the gash outlines an offense.
The saw’s monotone motion slices
into the body. You, unwounded
by the wound that bares the years:
the story held inside
told in
arcs and rings, widened
from a year of rain,
scars, perhaps from a wildfire,
or the heartwood off-center (where the wind blew).
A history of striving, made
of traces and resistances most of all
airy deformations.
Then splinters, where human hands pass.
those fragments
and the gash outlines an offense.
The saw’s monotone motion slices
into the body. You, unwounded
by the wound that bares the years:
the story held inside
told in
arcs and rings, widened
from a year of rain,
scars, perhaps from a wildfire,
or the heartwood off-center (where the wind blew).
A history of striving, made
of traces and resistances most of all
airy deformations.
Then splinters, where human hands pass.
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Estratti dal silenzio, uno ad uno
quei frammenti e il taglio ricalca un oltraggio. La sega e il gesto monocorde, l’incisione dentro il corpo. Non ti ferisce l’aperta ferita che ne mostra l’età: contiene una storia e viene detta dalla curva, dagli anelli. Quelli spessi perché piovve un certo anno, le cicatrici forse a causa di un incendio o il cuore fuoriposto (perché lì tirava vento). È una storia faticosa, fatta di tracce e resistenze soprattutto deformità ariose. Poi di scarti, quando passa una mano umana. |
Your fragments, you whisper:
they’re home. Heavy is
the helpless nakedness exposing the core,
the bright soul deep within
returns a wordless gaze, horizontal.
Each ring holds a treasure:
immeasurable, unutterable. It made sense
before, when they still formed a trunk.
When they were a mystery
still hidden from view, a trace of history
closed off to humans. Now, instead,
an image illuminated, a secret laid bare,
a fear. They speak an unknown
language and it troubles you
and heartens you. You speak the same way.
Those split-open faces of chestnut and birch
the wrinkled bark romanced by the rain
and wizened. Then a silence
unfurls another life. Makes room, grows. Cries out.
they’re home. Heavy is
the helpless nakedness exposing the core,
the bright soul deep within
returns a wordless gaze, horizontal.
Each ring holds a treasure:
immeasurable, unutterable. It made sense
before, when they still formed a trunk.
When they were a mystery
still hidden from view, a trace of history
closed off to humans. Now, instead,
an image illuminated, a secret laid bare,
a fear. They speak an unknown
language and it troubles you
and heartens you. You speak the same way.
Those split-open faces of chestnut and birch
the wrinkled bark romanced by the rain
and wizened. Then a silence
unfurls another life. Makes room, grows. Cries out.
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I tuoi frammenti, dici piano:
sono a casa. Pesa l’inerme nudità che ne espone la faccia l’anima più interna e chiara. Ti ritorna uno sguardo muto, orizzontale. Un tesoro è contenuto dagli anelli: inestimabile, inenarrabile. Aveva senso prima, quando ancora erano un tronco. Quando erano un mistero ancora chiuso agli occhi, un sospetto di storia che avrebbe escluso l’uomo. Ma ora sono immagine chiarita, un segreto spogliato una paura. Parlano una lingua incerta e ti disturba e ti rincuora. Anche tu parli così. Quei volti aperti di castagno e di betulla quelle grinze di corteccia corteggiata dalle piogge ed invecchiata. Poi un silenzio che ti spiega un’altra vita. Si fa largo, sale. Grida. |
Original text: “Legni, colombe,” from Corpuscoli di Krause,
© 2022 by Fabiano Alborghetti (Gabriele Capelli Editore, Mendrisio, Switzerland)
© 2022 by Fabiano Alborghetti (Gabriele Capelli Editore, Mendrisio, Switzerland)
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Fabiano Alborghetti (b. 1970) is a poet and cultural promoter from Ticino, Switzerland. He is the author of eight poetry collections and winner of the 2018 Swiss Literature Award. His works have been translated into more than ten languages.
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Julia Nelsen is a translator and researcher of Italian literature based in Berkeley, California. She holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of California, Berkeley, and a masters in European languages from the University of Milan. Her work has appeared in Circumference, Two Lines, Chicago Review, Firmament, and elsewhere.
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