LUNEDI POETICO

This would have been an appropriate poem to have posted yesterday, but I hadn't finished tweaking the translation by then. Professore Antonio Lonardo dedicated this poem to his mother and I publish it here with his kind permission, along with my translation. The poem very much expresses how I feel about my own mother now and, again with Professore Lonardo's permission, I have added a photo of her as a newly married young woman, "in love with life".

DISTANZE

Anche quando le antinomie
sono apparse marcate,
le distanze si sono annullate
tra noi, mater dulcissima.

Le acque, del mio esistenziale fiume,
sgorgate dal tuo materno seno,
hanno mantenuto la cristallina purezza,
nonostante i ricchi affluenti del tempo.

Ancora oggi, nella piena maturità,
addormentarmi vorrei
sulle tue morbide ginocchia
e sognare l'amore del sangue,

che va perdendosi in mille rivoli,
dispersi nell'ignoto spazio
con enigmatici dubbi
di intersecate strade sassose.

Ancora oggi, avanti negli anni,
passeggiare vorrei
in tua dolcissima compagnia
e raccontarti le mie gioie,

nate dal tuo nutriente latte
di incessanti preghiere
rivolte all'Eterno,
sin dai miei primi vagiti.

Ancora oggi, sui meridiani del tempo,
smorzare, vorrei, la nostalgia
di vederti giovane entusiasta,
innamorata della vita,

e godere, nell'illuminata coda del vento,
del cibo delle culturali radici
di frondosi alberi, tuttora
ricchi di saporosi frutti.

DISTANCES

Even when the antimonies
appeared well- marked,
the distances between us
were as nought, mater dulcissima.

The waters, of my existential river,
gushing from your maternal breast,
maintained their crystalline purity,
despite the strong streams of time.

Even today, in full maturity,
I would like to sleep
on your soft knees
and dream of the ties of blood,

flowing, then lost in a thousand rivulets,
dispersing in unknown space
with the enigmatic doubts
of intersecting stony streets.

Even today, advanced in years,
I would like to walk
in your sweet company
and tell you of my joys,

born of your nourishing milk
of incessant prayers
to our Eternal Father,
from my very first whimpers.

Even today, on the meridians of time,
I would like to muffle my longing
to see you, young and ardent,
still in love with life,

and enjoy, in the lit tail of the wind,
the food of my cultural roots
of verdant trees, still
rich in delicious fruit.