from Il tempo di una cometa

Stella N’Djoku, Transl. by Julia Anastasia Pelosi-Thorpe


The room remains empty
carriage 15, seats one-0-eight and one-0-nine.
I was able to believe in return
in the beauty of encounters,
something remains of our being
braided flesh and muscle
or we’re chilled
bags for bone.

 


 

Rimane vuota la stanza
la carrozza 15, i posti centootto e centonove.
Potevo credere al ritorno
alla bellezza degli incontri,
qualcosa rimane del nostro essere
carne e muscoli in trecce
o siamo freddi
sacchetti per ossa.

 

 

 

Julia Anastasia Pelosi-Thorpe's translations of Italian, Latin, and Parmesan dialect poetry are found in the Journal of Italian Translation, Modern Poetry in Translation, The Poetry Society’s The Poetry Review, Asymptote, and more.