My i strayed from its o
(divorziato)
decades before the sperm and egg had wed,
hatching me to a self-soaking
tub where the immigrant
pigments of Ermano e Rosa
were twice removed.
Quando dormo
gli antenati stanno sempre
sussurando indicazioni
Rosa e Ermano each descend
(spaesato)
on separate planks plunked down to greasy
rock by proverbial boats.
When they do, Emma Lazarus doesn't
warn them the Lady's "give me"
comes with a take.
Provo a sentire
le due parole dolci
ma non posso
Ermano e Rosa each find
(inamorato)
American spouses, have American kids
who sprout to twist a native tongue
till an ill-fit, its tang is
left in must and un-dusted
just for periodic trips back.
Ripeto, Chi sono io?
E nel questo sogno
i voci mi dicono di nuovo...
Let's skip the unplugged generation's gap
(collegato)
to where my i reacquaints with its o,
but their made-up past makes
a tenuous tether, so together
Rosa e Ermano drift on
the whispers of a forgotten song.
Non dimenticar
This week's Poetry on Wednesday Prompt asks us to "sprinkle" some Italian into our poetry. Since that's my linguistic heritage, I may have gone a little overboard with the spicing. Here is a translation of the Italian lines:
Who am I?
*
(divorced)
*
When I sleep
the ancestors are always
whispering hints
*
(lost)
*
I try to hear
the two soft words
but I can't
*
(in love)
*
I repeat, Who am I?
And in this dream
the voices tell me again...
*
(connected)
*
Don't forget
Non dimenticar
This week's Poetry on Wednesday Prompt asks us to "sprinkle" some Italian into our poetry. Since that's my linguistic heritage, I may have gone a little overboard with the spicing. Here is a translation of the Italian lines:Who am I?
*
(divorced)
*
When I sleep
the ancestors are always
whispering hints
*
(lost)
*
I try to hear
the two soft words
but I can't
*
(in love)
*
I repeat, Who am I?
And in this dream
the voices tell me again...
*
(connected)
*
Don't forget
10 comments:
I can relate in a way. I'm 50-50 Polish-English - feel neither. Always the tourist searching for home.
Francis you certainly do lend the flavour of Italian to this quite well. Excellent post!
Pamela
Not overboard at all...tender poem tinged with a little sadness.
Non dimenticar is a lovely song. You have used the Italian phrases to great effect . They have music in them with beautiful meaning. I knew you would excel at this.I should smother you with Italian kisses:)
"Rosa e Ermano drift on
the whispers of a forgotten song." is such a lovely way to finish, Francis.
I shall be looking to you for corrections to my Italian!
"who sprout to twist a native tongue
till an ill-fit, its tang is
left in must..."
wonderful words.
I don't think your use of Italian was too much, it was enough to keep me reading and semi-understanding, which kept me interested enough to read through your translation to further understand. Got all that?
So, all good.
- Dina
Francis, I got most of this on first reading, though the translation helped later.
What I found wonderful in this poem was the use of assonance, which made the words roll off the tongue. Such a musical poem. Thankyou.
@Stan I think that may become our modern predicament, but in some ways belonging to a mixed world culture isn't a bad thing.
@Pamela Grazie!
@Rall It's hard not to sound musical when speaking Italian :). I'm happy to accept kisses of all ethnicities.
@Derrick I think you're better off finding someone for whom Italian is a first language :).
@Dina Got it :). I tried to keep things simple and use a lot of cognates to make the words more understandable.
@Viv Assonance is so much easier in Italian. I'd like to bone up on the language and try my hand at writing more poetry in it because it's such a different experience.
What I love about your poetry, Francis: You constantly surprise me. You tell a wonderful story, but it's more like a dream. "till an ill-fit, its tang is" - the assonance wonderful; "American spouses, have American kids" repetition pleasing; very modern, very old-fashioned -- a nice contrast. Yeah, I guess I like this a little. =)
Entertaining, complex in the migling of textures, and reflectin generations. Utterly true to the prompt without revealing it. Could this be the outline for a novel?
@Linda I'm glad you like it so much :). I do have an odd jumble of influences.
@JD I don't think I have a novel in me, but maybe a few very long narrative poems.
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