“the light globes, the slow Templar
globes cumulus clouds of winds
are not me”.
(F. Fortini)
The trifle covering your shoulders
that rag of sun and light that ran
the dismasted and crushed will,
the fingers of who gave to your fingers
short heat, the winter vertex
of nickeled hospital beds
and, black than other blacks,
the black midnight inside the sleep
and your trembled cent
of soul, the fire of fever making
every minute a battle of Saint Lazarus
a fall every pause of blood,
that trifle: that covered your shoulder
you were not you.
Pierluigi Cappello (Italy, 1967 – 2017 ), La misura dell’erba, Ignazio Maria Gallino Editore, Milano 1998, 2000 (translation by Slow Words)
To buy the book (Italian language): https://www.ibs.it/misura-dell-erba-libro-pierluigi-cappello/e/9788887196146
Cover: Tacita Dean, When I first raised the tempest, No 17599, blackboard drawing (detail), on show at Tempest, TMAG (Tasmanian Modern Art Gallery) until November 20, 2016 (ph. Diana Marrone)