Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Antonella Anedda

A winter night in the city

It has stopped raining now. From the window the world is in drops:
a face without nose, eyes, lips. Only these minute tears
over trees and houses. One in particular glitters
where somebody cries from his armchair
dignified, still only uncertain if the house resembles
those he lived in the past and which he confuses.

He’s not crying out of nostalgia, but for the entire weight
of the rain, as if he were the roof
that bears and peels off.
As if the entire building, bloated with water and rock
testified to a wrong.

A creature can fret over this, lay awake all night
or replicate the desolation in a dream. Be in a gorge.
Remain there in the earth, under the rain that comes.

Una sera d’inverno in città

Una sera d’inverno in città

Ora ha smesso di piovere. Dalla finestra il mondo è a gocce:
un viso senza naso, occhi, labbra. Solo queste minute lacrime
sugli alberi e le case. Una in particolare si rischiara
dove qualcuno piange sulla sua poltrona
composto, fermo solo incerto se la casa somigli
a quelle che abitò in passato e che confonde.

Non è di nostalgia che piange, ma per il peso intero
della pioggia, come se lui fosse il tetto
che sopporta e si scrosta.
Come se l’intero palazzo, gonfio di acqua e  pietra
rivelasse un’offesa.

Una creatura può crucciarsi per questo, passare sveglia la notte
o replicare nel sogno la desolazione. Essere in un burrone.
Stare lì tra la terra, nella pioggia che viene.
Close

A winter night in the city

It has stopped raining now. From the window the world is in drops:
a face without nose, eyes, lips. Only these minute tears
over trees and houses. One in particular glitters
where somebody cries from his armchair
dignified, still only uncertain if the house resembles
those he lived in the past and which he confuses.

He’s not crying out of nostalgia, but for the entire weight
of the rain, as if he were the roof
that bears and peels off.
As if the entire building, bloated with water and rock
testified to a wrong.

A creature can fret over this, lay awake all night
or replicate the desolation in a dream. Be in a gorge.
Remain there in the earth, under the rain that comes.

A winter night in the city

It has stopped raining now. From the window the world is in drops:
a face without nose, eyes, lips. Only these minute tears
over trees and houses. One in particular glitters
where somebody cries from his armchair
dignified, still only uncertain if the house resembles
those he lived in the past and which he confuses.

He’s not crying out of nostalgia, but for the entire weight
of the rain, as if he were the roof
that bears and peels off.
As if the entire building, bloated with water and rock
testified to a wrong.

A creature can fret over this, lay awake all night
or replicate the desolation in a dream. Be in a gorge.
Remain there in the earth, under the rain that comes.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère