WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.510 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.510 --> 00:00:02.385 align:middle line:84% [LOIS SHELTON] I'm Lois Shelton, the director 00:00:02.385 --> 00:00:03.480 align:middle line:90% of the Poetry Center. 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:05.355 align:middle line:84% I'd like to speak for [AUDIO SKIPS] gentlemen 00:00:05.355 --> 00:00:07.763 align:middle line:84% about the little flyers that were handed to you. 00:00:07.763 --> 00:00:16.160 align:middle line:84% [SOUND OF PAPER MOVING] I'll get there in a minute. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:18.620 align:middle line:90% I'll just hold it. 00:00:18.620 --> 00:00:23.600 align:middle line:84% This may be the last event that we have in this pleasant place 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:26.780 align:middle line:84% because the Poetry Center library, which 00:00:26.780 --> 00:00:31.640 align:middle line:84% is on the corner, is due for demolition in January, 00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:33.410 align:middle line:90% and we had thought until just-- 00:00:33.410 --> 00:00:35.180 align:middle line:90% I mean June. 00:00:35.180 --> 00:00:36.560 align:middle line:90% I wish it were January. 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:39.290 align:middle line:84% We had thought, until just recently, 00:00:39.290 --> 00:00:42.140 align:middle line:84% that this space and our little guest house 00:00:42.140 --> 00:00:44.310 align:middle line:90% were going to be saved. 00:00:44.310 --> 00:00:46.910 align:middle line:84% Now we've been told that these buildings are to-- 00:00:46.910 --> 00:00:50.510 align:middle line:84% both to be destroyed and that this space is 00:00:50.510 --> 00:00:52.880 align:middle line:90% to be used for a parking lot. 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:57.620 align:middle line:84% So we urge you to write letters in support of the Poetry 00:00:57.620 --> 00:00:58.850 align:middle line:90% Center. 00:00:58.850 --> 00:01:01.820 align:middle line:84% We're mainly concerned with the long-term goals, 00:01:01.820 --> 00:01:07.010 align:middle line:84% that we get a permanent home before too many years pass. 00:01:07.010 --> 00:01:09.630 align:middle line:84% And the main problem, as I see it, 00:01:09.630 --> 00:01:12.500 align:middle line:84% is the fact that, in the little house we're being moved to, 00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:17.330 align:middle line:84% which will be a very pleasant place when it's renovated-- 00:01:17.330 --> 00:01:18.920 align:middle line:84% because of the design of the building, 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:23.640 align:middle line:84% we will only be able to shelve about half of our books. 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:27.170 align:middle line:90% Our collection is incomparable. 00:01:27.170 --> 00:01:29.900 align:middle line:84% There are many fine collections in university libraries 00:01:29.900 --> 00:01:34.340 align:middle line:84% but nothing that compares with ours, 00:01:34.340 --> 00:01:37.430 align:middle line:84% mainly due to its accessibility to the readers. 00:01:37.430 --> 00:01:40.670 align:middle line:84% University of New York at Buffalo 00:01:40.670 --> 00:01:42.020 align:middle line:90% has a wonderful collection. 00:01:42.020 --> 00:01:45.110 align:middle line:84% You have to put on white gloves, and pass through inspection, 00:01:45.110 --> 00:01:47.120 align:middle line:84% and handle everything in plastic. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:50.150 align:middle line:84% Here you can take a book down and hold it in your hands. 00:01:50.150 --> 00:01:53.330 align:middle line:84% And we would like your support, so if you can write letters 00:01:53.330 --> 00:01:57.590 align:middle line:84% to Dr. Koffler, or Dr. Kosanovich, or Dr. Biegel, 00:01:57.590 --> 00:02:00.140 align:middle line:84% or to the editor, anyone you choose. 00:02:00.140 --> 00:02:01.730 align:middle line:84% We would appreciate it very much, 00:02:01.730 --> 00:02:04.230 align:middle line:84% and we'll be happy to talk to you about it after the reading 00:02:04.230 --> 00:02:07.252 align:middle line:84% because I don't want to take up Paolo's time. 00:02:07.252 --> 00:02:08.960 align:middle line:84% We are so happy that he was able to come. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:11.360 align:middle line:84% And I would like to introduce Jonathan Beck, who 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:13.683 align:middle line:84% is the department chairman for French and Italian, 00:02:13.683 --> 00:02:14.975 align:middle line:90% who will introduce Dr. Valesio. 00:02:14.975 --> 00:02:21.532 align:middle line:90% 00:02:21.532 --> 00:02:22.990 align:middle line:84% [JONATHAN BECK] How does this work? 00:02:22.990 --> 00:02:23.470 align:middle line:90% [SHELTON] It's on. 00:02:23.470 --> 00:02:24.520 align:middle line:90% [BECK] You just hold it? 00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:26.830 align:middle line:84% [SHELTON] Yeah, and we'll put it around Paolo's neck. 00:02:26.830 --> 00:02:28.820 align:middle line:84% [BECK] We'll put it around your neck. 00:02:28.820 --> 00:02:31.130 align:middle line:84% [SHELTON] We'll hang Paolo with that. 00:02:31.130 --> 00:02:31.630 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHS] 00:02:31.630 --> 00:02:33.760 align:middle line:84% [BECK] I don't have that much to say. 00:02:33.760 --> 00:02:36.430 align:middle line:84% Most of you who are here will have already received 00:02:36.430 --> 00:02:40.150 align:middle line:84% this great flyer announcing this reading, 00:02:40.150 --> 00:02:46.810 align:middle line:84% and it has in it the principle works of Paolo Valesio. 00:02:46.810 --> 00:02:51.040 align:middle line:84% If you haven't received one, you're here anyway, 00:02:51.040 --> 00:02:56.530 align:middle line:84% and so all of the distinguished things that we put in here 00:02:56.530 --> 00:02:58.510 align:middle line:90% were to get to come. 00:02:58.510 --> 00:03:02.920 align:middle line:84% If you'd like a list of those afterwards, we have a few left. 00:03:02.920 --> 00:03:05.950 align:middle line:84% I did want to take a couple of moments 00:03:05.950 --> 00:03:10.100 align:middle line:84% at this occasion to announce officially 00:03:10.100 --> 00:03:15.400 align:middle line:84% our project, a proposal, a very ambitious proposal, which 00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:21.790 align:middle line:84% I will just simply summarize for you, read the main points of it 00:03:21.790 --> 00:03:26.590 align:middle line:84% to you by way of introducing Professor Valesio. 00:03:26.590 --> 00:03:29.465 align:middle line:90% Basically what this is a-- 00:03:29.465 --> 00:03:33.610 align:middle line:84% this is the result of Professor Valesio's visit 00:03:33.610 --> 00:03:36.070 align:middle line:84% here at the University of Arizona 00:03:36.070 --> 00:03:37.840 align:middle line:84% as distinguished visiting professor 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:39.730 align:middle line:90% in the fall of this year. 00:03:39.730 --> 00:03:42.940 align:middle line:90% 00:03:42.940 --> 00:03:48.400 align:middle line:84% In the course of our discussions and in the course of his 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:51.550 align:middle line:84% becoming familiar with the University of Arizona 00:03:51.550 --> 00:03:57.970 align:middle line:84% and especially the facilities in poetry and creative writing, 00:03:57.970 --> 00:04:06.490 align:middle line:84% the idea emerged of creating a program, a new program, which 00:04:06.490 --> 00:04:10.420 align:middle line:84% will eventually bear the name of the Arizona Writing Laboratory 00:04:10.420 --> 00:04:14.150 align:middle line:84% for Italian and Italo-American writing. 00:04:14.150 --> 00:04:18.310 align:middle line:84% Now, our good friends in the University Foundation, 00:04:18.310 --> 00:04:20.230 align:middle line:84% the U of A Foundation across the street, 00:04:20.230 --> 00:04:22.990 align:middle line:84% are at work, probably not at this very moment, 00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:29.560 align:middle line:84% but they are at work with us in trying to put together 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:34.510 align:middle line:84% this joint project which will involve 00:04:34.510 --> 00:04:37.300 align:middle line:84% French and Italian department, the Poetry 00:04:37.300 --> 00:04:42.670 align:middle line:84% Center, and the Arizona program in creative writing. 00:04:42.670 --> 00:04:44.380 align:middle line:84% Lois mentioned a few minutes ago one 00:04:44.380 --> 00:04:50.560 align:middle line:84% of the unique features of the Poetry Center here, 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:52.720 align:middle line:90% in the way the library works. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:55.780 align:middle line:84% Our proposal begins with a similar kind of comparison. 00:04:55.780 --> 00:04:57.440 align:middle line:90% And I won't take too much time. 00:04:57.440 --> 00:04:59.470 align:middle line:84% I'm only going to read you a couple of sentences 00:04:59.470 --> 00:05:02.470 align:middle line:84% here just to give you an idea of what this is. 00:05:02.470 --> 00:05:07.900 align:middle line:84% And then after the reading, I'd like 00:05:07.900 --> 00:05:13.330 align:middle line:84% to give any of you who are interested in knowing more 00:05:13.330 --> 00:05:17.740 align:middle line:84% about this a chance to get more information. 00:05:17.740 --> 00:05:19.210 align:middle line:90% I'd like to-- 00:05:19.210 --> 00:05:22.240 align:middle line:84% I'd be happy to talk to anybody who is interested in how 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:25.540 align:middle line:90% this is about to proceed. 00:05:25.540 --> 00:05:28.150 align:middle line:84% Unlike institutions where endowed chairs 00:05:28.150 --> 00:05:30.910 align:middle line:84% of Italian studies lack specific focus, 00:05:30.910 --> 00:05:35.380 align:middle line:84% Berkeley, Columbia, Connecticut, Stanford, our Arizona proposal 00:05:35.380 --> 00:05:38.290 align:middle line:84% is to establish a center for Italian creative writing 00:05:38.290 --> 00:05:42.310 align:middle line:84% and applied criticism directed by Paolo Valesio, who 00:05:42.310 --> 00:05:44.800 align:middle line:84% would be the first appointment to the chair as Professor 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:46.840 align:middle line:84% of Italian and Comparative Literature 00:05:46.840 --> 00:05:48.880 align:middle line:90% and Author in Residence. 00:05:48.880 --> 00:05:52.840 align:middle line:84% Briefly, the center would entail courses in composition 00:05:52.840 --> 00:05:56.860 align:middle line:84% and rhetoric, courses and workshops at all level, 00:05:56.860 --> 00:06:00.550 align:middle line:84% would do translation, theory and practice of translation, 00:06:00.550 --> 00:06:03.340 align:middle line:84% applied criticism and essay writing, 00:06:03.340 --> 00:06:06.590 align:middle line:84% and then have a number of advanced seminars, workshops, 00:06:06.590 --> 00:06:09.940 align:middle line:84% and master classes as well as writing clinics 00:06:09.940 --> 00:06:15.340 align:middle line:84% in poetry and short fiction, also media writing, cinema, 00:06:15.340 --> 00:06:19.150 align:middle line:84% theater, radio, and TV, and would include the participation 00:06:19.150 --> 00:06:20.740 align:middle line:90% of visiting authors. 00:06:20.740 --> 00:06:23.680 align:middle line:84% And here we have, in parentheses, 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:28.570 align:middle line:84% for example, Umberto Eco, in the inaugural year. 00:06:28.570 --> 00:06:32.290 align:middle line:84% Hopefully, the inaugural year could be as soon 00:06:32.290 --> 00:06:35.230 align:middle line:90% as next year, 1990. 00:06:35.230 --> 00:06:41.110 align:middle line:84% If that is not feasible, we hope to make the inaugural year 00:06:41.110 --> 00:06:43.750 align:middle line:90% as soon as possible after 1990. 00:06:43.750 --> 00:06:47.080 align:middle line:84% And again, anybody who is interested in knowing more 00:06:47.080 --> 00:06:50.560 align:middle line:84% about this, I'd be happy to speak 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:52.120 align:middle line:90% to you during the reception. 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:54.730 align:middle line:84% Now, without any further delays, it 00:06:54.730 --> 00:06:57.790 align:middle line:84% is a great pleasure-- this is a day that Lois, and I, 00:06:57.790 --> 00:06:59.860 align:middle line:84% and a number of us in the department 00:06:59.860 --> 00:07:02.260 align:middle line:84% have been waiting for a long time. 00:07:02.260 --> 00:07:04.870 align:middle line:84% I have the pleasure to present Paolo Valesio 00:07:04.870 --> 00:07:06.600 align:middle line:90% in a reading of his own work. 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:07.100 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:07:07.100 --> 00:07:07.600 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:09.510 align:middle line:84% [PAOLO VALESIO] Can you help me get-- 00:07:09.510 --> 00:07:14.046 align:middle line:90% 00:07:14.046 --> 00:07:18.380 align:middle line:84% [BECK] This is like a robing ceremony. 00:07:18.380 --> 00:07:20.420 align:middle line:84% Why don't you step forward a little? 00:07:20.420 --> 00:07:22.503 align:middle line:84% [SHELTON] I'm going to go get you some more water. 00:07:22.503 --> 00:07:24.500 align:middle line:90% 00:07:24.500 --> 00:07:25.820 align:middle line:90% [BECK] Actually, we have a-- 00:07:25.820 --> 00:07:28.688 align:middle line:84% [VALESIO] I have to stay in back of this. 00:07:28.688 --> 00:07:30.230 align:middle line:84% [BECK] How about to his shirt collar? 00:07:30.230 --> 00:07:33.177 align:middle line:90% 00:07:33.177 --> 00:07:34.010 align:middle line:90% Thank you very much. 00:07:34.010 --> 00:07:34.510 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:07:34.510 --> 00:07:35.820 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:07:35.820 --> 00:07:36.200 align:middle line:90% [WOMAN'S VOICE] Yeah. 00:07:36.200 --> 00:07:37.530 align:middle line:84% Yeah, he's going to want to sit here, he said. 00:07:37.530 --> 00:07:38.030 align:middle line:90% So-- 00:07:38.030 --> 00:07:41.475 align:middle line:90% 00:07:41.475 --> 00:07:42.725 align:middle line:90% [BECK] You're on a short cord. 00:07:42.725 --> 00:07:45.560 align:middle line:90% 00:07:45.560 --> 00:07:49.940 align:middle line:84% [VALESIO] I have had already the honor of listening to a poetry 00:07:49.940 --> 00:07:53.810 align:middle line:84% reading at the Center, and I noted that professional nature, 00:07:53.810 --> 00:07:56.120 align:middle line:84% which, in the case of poetry reading, means, 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:58.490 align:middle line:84% it seems to me, that the poet speaks 00:07:58.490 --> 00:08:04.050 align:middle line:84% very little as a professor or expository of his own writing. 00:08:04.050 --> 00:08:07.760 align:middle line:84% So I want to have any preface at all 00:08:07.760 --> 00:08:12.920 align:middle line:84% but just start with the actual reading with only one note, 00:08:12.920 --> 00:08:15.020 align:middle line:84% that I'm here in front of you today 00:08:15.020 --> 00:08:18.560 align:middle line:84% at the mercy and hazard of translation. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:23.180 align:middle line:84% I mean, only one volume of the three published until now 00:08:23.180 --> 00:08:25.910 align:middle line:84% and the two that are in preparation of my poetry 00:08:25.910 --> 00:08:31.310 align:middle line:84% has been fully translated, and only some of my latest poems 00:08:31.310 --> 00:08:32.750 align:middle line:90% have been translated. 00:08:32.750 --> 00:08:34.820 align:middle line:84% So I will read the translated ones, 00:08:34.820 --> 00:08:37.190 align:middle line:84% not because they are in some sense more important 00:08:37.190 --> 00:08:40.745 align:middle line:84% than the others but because they are available in translation. 00:08:40.745 --> 00:08:43.460 align:middle line:84% That's what I meant by the hazard element. 00:08:43.460 --> 00:08:46.490 align:middle line:84% I won't an inflict an Italian poem on you 00:08:46.490 --> 00:08:49.100 align:middle line:84% because it would make the whole thing slower 00:08:49.100 --> 00:08:51.030 align:middle line:84% and more complicated, with one exception. 00:08:51.030 --> 00:08:55.130 align:middle line:84% I take the liberty to say goodbye to Italian, 00:08:55.130 --> 00:08:57.590 align:middle line:84% so to speak, for the next of the 40 minutes, 00:08:57.590 --> 00:09:01.940 align:middle line:84% take the liberty of reading in Italian the poem you have-- 00:09:01.940 --> 00:09:05.480 align:middle line:84% some of you, at least, have read in the flyer 00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:07.670 align:middle line:84% and without reading the translation. 00:09:07.670 --> 00:09:13.550 align:middle line:84% And then I will go into a series of poems in translation. 00:09:13.550 --> 00:09:16.940 align:middle line:84% It's a poem about two squirrels which in Italian are called 00:09:16.940 --> 00:09:20.240 align:middle line:84% scoiattoli-- it may sound funny, but squirrel also sounds pretty 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:22.220 align:middle line:90% funny in Italian-- 00:09:22.220 --> 00:09:23.090 align:middle line:90% on a tomb. 00:09:23.090 --> 00:09:26.840 align:middle line:84% And it's called-- and this is neither Italian nor English-- 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:27.860 align:middle line:90% "In Memoriam." 00:09:27.860 --> 00:09:31.420 align:middle line:90% 00:09:31.420 --> 00:09:33.040 align:middle line:90% "Due 00:09:33.040 --> 00:09:35.480 align:middle line:90% scoiattoli grigi, immobili. 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:39.730 align:middle line:84% Uno è esattamente inarcato su una cresta di lapide grigia. 00:09:39.730 --> 00:09:42.420 align:middle line:90% 00:09:42.420 --> 00:09:47.440 align:middle line:84% L'altro lo fissa, stanno per balzarsi alla gola, 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:50.280 align:middle line:90% o è la pace di uno stemma? 00:09:50.280 --> 00:09:54.596 align:middle line:84% Acquattato allo stremo della stessa tomba ferrigna. 00:09:54.596 --> 00:09:59.140 align:middle line:84% Ai nostri passi incerti, sospetti del peccato della 00:09:59.140 --> 00:10:04.280 align:middle line:84% curiosità, che ricercano l'Angelo di pietra, 00:10:04.280 --> 00:10:10.990 align:middle line:84% bianca e rugosa, quattro grandi e neri crocidando si levano 00:10:10.990 --> 00:10:16.240 align:middle line:90% lenti fuori dai non-cipressi." 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:22.180 align:middle line:84% I will go on with this in memoriam theme 00:10:22.180 --> 00:10:29.060 align:middle line:84% for a little while in that I'd like 00:10:29.060 --> 00:10:33.300 align:middle line:84% to read you my the last thing I wrote, 00:10:33.300 --> 00:10:36.320 align:middle line:84% which is a rather long prose poem, 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:41.390 align:middle line:84% in memory of the significant Italian poet who suddenly 00:10:41.390 --> 00:10:43.130 align:middle line:90% died a few months ago. 00:10:43.130 --> 00:10:51.290 align:middle line:84% I think this reading will serve two purposes, one, to read 00:10:51.290 --> 00:10:55.760 align:middle line:84% some recent work of mine in translation, and the other, 00:10:55.760 --> 00:11:01.160 align:middle line:84% to avoid any temptation that arises when one speaks out 00:11:01.160 --> 00:11:02.960 align:middle line:84% of a foreign language and literature 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:06.020 align:middle line:84% to present oneself as the heir of the whole tradition 00:11:06.020 --> 00:11:07.730 align:middle line:84% like Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. 00:11:07.730 --> 00:11:09.870 align:middle line:84% That's certainly not my intention. 00:11:09.870 --> 00:11:12.170 align:middle line:84% So much more concretely and modestly, 00:11:12.170 --> 00:11:17.870 align:middle line:84% I think this prose poem will work, hopefully, 00:11:17.870 --> 00:11:23.150 align:middle line:84% as a prose poem and also say something about Italian poetry 00:11:23.150 --> 00:11:27.380 align:middle line:84% just in these days, in these months. 00:11:27.380 --> 00:11:31.580 align:middle line:84% The way I organized it is like a series of flashes 00:11:31.580 --> 00:11:34.130 align:middle line:90% or images in a movie. 00:11:34.130 --> 00:11:38.810 align:middle line:84% There are a series of places and a description of moments 00:11:38.810 --> 00:11:44.150 align:middle line:84% in which there was some meeting, or encounter, or conversation 00:11:44.150 --> 00:11:47.720 align:middle line:90% with a poet who died. 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:51.110 align:middle line:84% And the title is, "In Memory of Adriano Spatola," 00:11:51.110 --> 00:11:52.625 align:middle line:90% who is the poet in question. 00:11:52.625 --> 00:11:55.710 align:middle line:90% 00:11:55.710 --> 00:11:59.400 align:middle line:84% "Somewhere in Bologna in the '60s, 00:11:59.400 --> 00:12:02.880 align:middle line:84% a group of young men and women aspiring towards the lucid calm 00:12:02.880 --> 00:12:05.700 align:middle line:90% of scholarship and erudition. 00:12:05.700 --> 00:12:07.800 align:middle line:84% Did we find this calm in the end? 00:12:07.800 --> 00:12:10.680 align:middle line:84% It is hard to say when hindsight simply 00:12:10.680 --> 00:12:13.800 align:middle line:84% means recognizing that we did not leave behind our enduring 00:12:13.800 --> 00:12:15.330 align:middle line:90% perplexities. 00:12:15.330 --> 00:12:18.180 align:middle line:90% Now most have become professors. 00:12:18.180 --> 00:12:19.890 align:middle line:90% Some are expatriates. 00:12:19.890 --> 00:12:22.150 align:middle line:90% One killed himself. 00:12:22.150 --> 00:12:24.960 align:middle line:84% I was seated around one of the most refined humanists 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:28.920 align:middle line:84% at the university in that pre-demagogic era in which it 00:12:28.920 --> 00:12:33.330 align:middle line:84% was not yet impossible to have university rhyme with dignity. 00:12:33.330 --> 00:12:36.730 align:middle line:84% These were times of greater poverty, surely, or greater 00:12:36.730 --> 00:12:39.570 align:middle line:84% simplicity of mind, times in which time 00:12:39.570 --> 00:12:41.610 align:middle line:90% itself appeared so often misty. 00:12:41.610 --> 00:12:45.300 align:middle line:84% But it was a sweet mist, that all the images and memories 00:12:45.300 --> 00:12:48.630 align:middle line:90% screen are a shade of sepia. 00:12:48.630 --> 00:12:52.650 align:middle line:84% A handsome young man began to take part in our reunions. 00:12:52.650 --> 00:12:57.480 align:middle line:84% He had a smooth cupid's face, soft hair, delicate voice. 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.180 align:middle line:84% He had just founded a small literary journal whose name 00:13:00.180 --> 00:13:02.160 align:middle line:90% was refined version of Babylon. 00:13:02.160 --> 00:13:03.870 align:middle line:90% It was called Bab Ilu. 00:13:03.870 --> 00:13:06.540 align:middle line:84% He spoke what was a rather new language then. 00:13:06.540 --> 00:13:08.190 align:middle line:84% In our Italy, where the alignment 00:13:08.190 --> 00:13:11.520 align:middle line:84% with the left on hard positions seemed at the time 00:13:11.520 --> 00:13:15.030 align:middle line:84% the only credible alternative to the established conformism, 00:13:15.030 --> 00:13:17.610 align:middle line:90% it was the language of pacifism. 00:13:17.610 --> 00:13:19.230 align:middle line:84% I wanted to become more acquainted 00:13:19.230 --> 00:13:22.020 align:middle line:84% with that poet and his magazine, but I was already preparing 00:13:22.020 --> 00:13:23.790 align:middle line:90% to leave for the United States. 00:13:23.790 --> 00:13:26.520 align:middle line:84% He was one of the many that-- what is the expression-- 00:13:26.520 --> 00:13:30.480 align:middle line:84% I lost sight of, whose inside I lost. 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:31.245 align:middle line:90% Adriano Spatola. 00:13:31.245 --> 00:13:34.140 align:middle line:90% 00:13:34.140 --> 00:13:38.310 align:middle line:84% August 29, 1978, Sydney, Australia. 00:13:38.310 --> 00:13:41.280 align:middle line:84% I see Spatola once again for the first time after the period 00:13:41.280 --> 00:13:44.850 align:middle line:84% in Bologna in a pub in Sydney during an international poetry 00:13:44.850 --> 00:13:45.870 align:middle line:90% reading. 00:13:45.870 --> 00:13:47.610 align:middle line:90% Cupid has become a Viking. 00:13:47.610 --> 00:13:48.780 align:middle line:90% He has gained weight. 00:13:48.780 --> 00:13:51.180 align:middle line:84% His hair and beard have grown long. 00:13:51.180 --> 00:13:53.640 align:middle line:84% A certain darkness has come over his face, 00:13:53.640 --> 00:13:57.240 align:middle line:84% overshadowing the viciousness that one otherwise 00:13:57.240 --> 00:14:00.600 align:middle line:84% would be tempted to connect with the exuberance of his actions 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:04.710 align:middle line:84% in performances, such as the poetry number he was engaged 00:14:04.710 --> 00:14:09.420 align:middle line:84% in that night, which was already and would remain his trademark, 00:14:09.420 --> 00:14:14.160 align:middle line:84% a sound poem made up of only two words and French words at that, 00:14:14.160 --> 00:14:18.210 align:middle line:84% "Aviation / Aviateur," words that were recited, chanted, 00:14:18.210 --> 00:14:19.770 align:middle line:84% whispered, shouted, mumbled, gargled, 00:14:19.770 --> 00:14:23.040 align:middle line:84% smothered, discarded, and recovered, and dragged with him 00:14:23.040 --> 00:14:24.720 align:middle line:84% along the floor, and on the platform, 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:28.170 align:middle line:84% and behind the piano where the performer grunts and grumbles 00:14:28.170 --> 00:14:30.570 align:middle line:84% as he plucks the nakedness of the chords 00:14:30.570 --> 00:14:33.060 align:middle line:90% under the raised top. 00:14:33.060 --> 00:14:35.580 align:middle line:84% His success is enormous and well-deserved. 00:14:35.580 --> 00:14:38.430 align:middle line:84% Adriano Spatola has been for some time now the most 00:14:38.430 --> 00:14:41.220 align:middle line:84% interesting experimental poet and the purest coordinator 00:14:41.220 --> 00:14:42.840 align:middle line:90% of poetry in Italy. 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:47.820 align:middle line:84% His Tam Tam, Journal of Poetry, On Poetry, and Total Poetry, 00:14:47.820 --> 00:14:50.220 align:middle line:84% founded and directed by him, begins 00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:51.570 align:middle line:90% to roll on the million fields. 00:14:51.570 --> 00:14:55.170 align:middle line:84% But it also spreads his sounds, the voice of new poetry, 00:14:55.170 --> 00:14:57.780 align:middle line:84% throughout the rest of the country. 00:14:57.780 --> 00:15:01.200 align:middle line:84% After his trip to Australia, Spatola returned to his roots, 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:04.560 align:middle line:84% to the area of Parma, where the town we chose to live in still 00:15:04.560 --> 00:15:08.040 align:middle line:84% retains the name of an old mill, a mill that 00:15:08.040 --> 00:15:10.110 align:middle line:90% grinds only poems, fortunately. 00:15:10.110 --> 00:15:11.760 align:middle line:90% This is why I called him purist. 00:15:11.760 --> 00:15:16.410 align:middle line:84% This is not a mix that contains the devil's brand of ideology. 00:15:16.410 --> 00:15:19.680 align:middle line:84% I also returned but to my un-roots in New England. 00:15:19.680 --> 00:15:22.470 align:middle line:84% The preceding year, I made a crucial decision 00:15:22.470 --> 00:15:24.690 align:middle line:84% to alternate narrative prose, with which 00:15:24.690 --> 00:15:28.410 align:middle line:84% I had begun my writing activity, with poetry. 00:15:28.410 --> 00:15:32.220 align:middle line:84% The reaching glance of another poet, Roberto Roversi, 00:15:32.220 --> 00:15:35.490 align:middle line:84% had caught the moment in which so many impulses, desires, 00:15:35.490 --> 00:15:39.720 align:middle line:84% and intuitions became coagulated into a commitment. 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:43.830 align:middle line:84% He looked at me with dark eyes inside his bookstore 00:15:43.830 --> 00:15:47.220 align:middle line:84% of rare books in Bologna and said, you must write poetry. 00:15:47.220 --> 00:15:50.340 align:middle line:84% Once, an old Sufi, curled up under the sun, 00:15:50.340 --> 00:15:53.520 align:middle line:84% mending his coat, which was one big patchwork, 00:15:53.520 --> 00:15:55.800 align:middle line:84% turned to a young man who was walking up and down 00:15:55.800 --> 00:15:57.925 align:middle line:84% the other side of the street and was looking at him 00:15:57.925 --> 00:16:00.450 align:middle line:84% with a mixture of condescension and curiosity. 00:16:00.450 --> 00:16:03.360 align:middle line:84% Hey, I have sewn your heart in here, 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:07.230 align:middle line:84% he said, pointing to the spot where his thick needle was 00:16:07.230 --> 00:16:10.080 align:middle line:84% sinking inside a patch whose color was particularly 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:11.550 align:middle line:90% offensive. 00:16:11.550 --> 00:16:13.290 align:middle line:84% The young man followed the thread. 00:16:13.290 --> 00:16:15.600 align:middle line:90% He became a mystic and disciple. 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:17.970 align:middle line:84% Similarly, Roversi revealed to me 00:16:17.970 --> 00:16:22.980 align:middle line:84% the desire that was nested within me, to serve poetry. 00:16:22.980 --> 00:16:26.160 align:middle line:84% However, it was the Australian encounter which definitely 00:16:26.160 --> 00:16:27.730 align:middle line:90% sealed my commitment. 00:16:27.730 --> 00:16:29.920 align:middle line:84% It was rather easy to follow Roversi-- 00:16:29.920 --> 00:16:33.390 align:middle line:84% he was about 15 years older than I-- as a maestro. 00:16:33.390 --> 00:16:36.210 align:middle line:84% But to recognize the masterly presence and the lessons 00:16:36.210 --> 00:16:38.700 align:middle line:84% behind the offerings of a man who was two years younger 00:16:38.700 --> 00:16:42.640 align:middle line:84% than I, Adriano Spatola, required a gesture of humility, 00:16:42.640 --> 00:16:44.790 align:middle line:90% which became the decisive act. 00:16:44.790 --> 00:16:48.210 align:middle line:84% And the vast difference and almost incompatibility 00:16:48.210 --> 00:16:50.190 align:middle line:84% between these two maestri mirrored 00:16:50.190 --> 00:16:53.730 align:middle line:84% one of the many fertile paradoxes of life in poetry. 00:16:53.730 --> 00:16:56.310 align:middle line:84% There was, nonetheless, one thing in common 00:16:56.310 --> 00:16:57.810 align:middle line:90% between these two poets. 00:16:57.810 --> 00:17:01.170 align:middle line:84% They were born as poets in Bologna, 00:17:01.170 --> 00:17:04.710 align:middle line:84% thus no matter how differently their roots branched out, 00:17:04.710 --> 00:17:07.319 align:middle line:84% they were both nourished by my native soil, 00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:09.089 align:middle line:90% humility once again. 00:17:09.089 --> 00:17:13.079 align:middle line:84% After prolonged expatriation and cosmopolitan existence, 00:17:13.079 --> 00:17:15.869 align:middle line:84% my small provincial town had determined what 00:17:15.869 --> 00:17:19.050 align:middle line:90% was most important for my path. 00:17:19.050 --> 00:17:21.450 align:middle line:90% December 1979, Bologna. 00:17:21.450 --> 00:17:24.119 align:middle line:84% The living room of an apartment with Christmas decorations 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:27.060 align:middle line:84% can be seen, a small tree with some ornaments already 00:17:27.060 --> 00:17:30.210 align:middle line:84% sprouting and others lying here and there, 00:17:30.210 --> 00:17:33.480 align:middle line:84% a certain sad, dismantled feeling in the air. 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:35.520 align:middle line:84% Perhaps this air always circles about 00:17:35.520 --> 00:17:37.560 align:middle line:90% during official celebrations. 00:17:37.560 --> 00:17:41.430 align:middle line:84% Adriano looks like Santa Claus, not the unbearable Kris Kringle 00:17:41.430 --> 00:17:44.070 align:middle line:84% but the ancient Santa Claus, snowy, 00:17:44.070 --> 00:17:47.850 align:middle line:84% forested with memories of paganism. 00:17:47.850 --> 00:17:49.780 align:middle line:84% We talk about my collection of poems, 00:17:49.780 --> 00:17:53.820 align:middle line:84% the first, which is about to come out, dedicated to Roversi. 00:17:53.820 --> 00:17:55.590 align:middle line:84% During the conversation, Adriano makes 00:17:55.590 --> 00:17:57.480 align:middle line:90% a couple of sarcastic remarks. 00:17:57.480 --> 00:17:58.770 align:middle line:90% I reply in kind. 00:17:58.770 --> 00:18:00.090 align:middle line:90% He answers angrily. 00:18:00.090 --> 00:18:01.860 align:middle line:90% I respond in the same tone. 00:18:01.860 --> 00:18:04.080 align:middle line:84% For a moment, our eyes meet across the table 00:18:04.080 --> 00:18:06.570 align:middle line:84% filled with fire, and we are on the brink of a fight. 00:18:06.570 --> 00:18:08.940 align:middle line:84% But Adriano has even on such an occasion 00:18:08.940 --> 00:18:11.370 align:middle line:84% the intuitive originality of a poet. 00:18:11.370 --> 00:18:15.090 align:middle line:84% And don't think that I drink for the fun of it, he shouts at me. 00:18:15.090 --> 00:18:17.610 align:middle line:84% After calming down almost immediately, 00:18:17.610 --> 00:18:20.490 align:middle line:84% we reconcile and return to our conversation. 00:18:20.490 --> 00:18:22.440 align:middle line:84% Then Adriano launches into a description 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:24.600 align:middle line:90% of what he calls his anaconda. 00:18:24.600 --> 00:18:27.000 align:middle line:84% He shows me the place in his abdomen here. 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:29.220 align:middle line:84% It twists itself around here, and then it 00:18:29.220 --> 00:18:32.190 align:middle line:84% climbs up here and curls up again where, 00:18:32.190 --> 00:18:34.710 align:middle line:84% in the moments strongest physical discomfort, 00:18:34.710 --> 00:18:37.020 align:middle line:84% the morning after, he seems to feel 00:18:37.020 --> 00:18:40.590 align:middle line:84% this large, snake-like animal moving inside of him. 00:18:40.590 --> 00:18:42.600 align:middle line:84% In his own tragic and funny style, 00:18:42.600 --> 00:18:45.570 align:middle line:84% he had conjured up this creature to fight his depressions. 00:18:45.570 --> 00:18:49.980 align:middle line:84% Did he ever write about his anaconda in his poems? 00:18:49.980 --> 00:18:55.170 align:middle line:84% August 5, 1981, the old hospital in Urbino, a poetry 00:18:55.170 --> 00:18:58.410 align:middle line:84% reading inside the unforgettable frame of the old hospital, 00:18:58.410 --> 00:19:01.290 align:middle line:84% a magnificent arcade of the 16th century 00:19:01.290 --> 00:19:03.480 align:middle line:84% reopened for the event in a corner 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:07.200 align:middle line:84% beneath the ancient walls surrounding this haunting city, 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:09.570 align:middle line:84% Adriano reads a sort of calendar poem 00:19:09.570 --> 00:19:12.060 align:middle line:90% in which the year has 13 months. 00:19:12.060 --> 00:19:15.810 align:middle line:84% What a striking difference from this stormy Australian reading. 00:19:15.810 --> 00:19:18.300 align:middle line:84% After all, only three years have passed, 00:19:18.300 --> 00:19:21.420 align:middle line:84% and yet it is as if an epoch were closing. 00:19:21.420 --> 00:19:25.530 align:middle line:84% Now the text is reading with a calm veiled voice is still 00:19:25.530 --> 00:19:30.750 align:middle line:84% surreal, but it is also pervaded by elegy, 00:19:30.750 --> 00:19:33.750 align:middle line:84% like the beginning of a long farewell. 00:19:33.750 --> 00:19:37.860 align:middle line:84% Christmas 1981, Molino di Bazzano, Parma. 00:19:37.860 --> 00:19:40.290 align:middle line:84% Once again, the image of Santa Claus 00:19:40.290 --> 00:19:43.470 align:middle line:84% leaps out, a kind of country cottage with logs 00:19:43.470 --> 00:19:46.110 align:middle line:84% burning in the fireplace in the middle of the night 00:19:46.110 --> 00:19:47.520 align:middle line:90% in the middle of the snow. 00:19:47.520 --> 00:19:49.590 align:middle line:84% But it appears merrier this time. 00:19:49.590 --> 00:19:51.420 align:middle line:84% Adriano, together with his friend, 00:19:51.420 --> 00:19:53.580 align:middle line:84% is preparing the anthology of Italian poetry 00:19:53.580 --> 00:19:57.240 align:middle line:84% 1960 to 1980, which would be published the following year, 00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:58.860 align:middle line:84% marking one of the first contacts 00:19:58.860 --> 00:20:02.370 align:middle line:84% between Italian and American contemporary poetry. 00:20:02.370 --> 00:20:05.400 align:middle line:84% Fall of 1983, New Haven, Connecticut. 00:20:05.400 --> 00:20:07.740 align:middle line:84% I receive La piegatura del foglio, 00:20:07.740 --> 00:20:11.550 align:middle line:84% The Folding of the Paper, Adriano's second collection 00:20:11.550 --> 00:20:14.730 align:middle line:84% of poetry after La composizione del testo, The Composition 00:20:14.730 --> 00:20:18.480 align:middle line:84% of the Text of 1978, which, together 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:20.910 align:middle line:84% with this posthumous book, La definizione del 00:20:20.910 --> 00:20:24.720 align:middle line:84% prezzo, The Definition of the Price, soon to be published, 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:28.080 align:middle line:84% makes up his trilogy of linear poetry. 00:20:28.080 --> 00:20:30.190 align:middle line:84% As I read, my eyes catch with emotion 00:20:30.190 --> 00:20:32.160 align:middle line:84% that we all feel when we see our name appear 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:36.420 align:middle line:84% in a dedication, a poem, "Phases of the Moon" and "Elsewhere," 00:20:36.420 --> 00:20:38.010 align:middle line:90% dedicated to me. 00:20:38.010 --> 00:20:40.410 align:middle line:84% But in a poem dedicated by a true poet, 00:20:40.410 --> 00:20:43.080 align:middle line:84% there is much more than an act of respect or affection 00:20:43.080 --> 00:20:45.660 align:middle line:84% which by itself would risk being coy. 00:20:45.660 --> 00:20:47.490 align:middle line:84% There is an aesthetic soul-searching 00:20:47.490 --> 00:20:49.050 align:middle line:90% that is doubly merciless. 00:20:49.050 --> 00:20:51.720 align:middle line:84% First of all, towards the dedicant. 00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:54.660 align:middle line:84% 'I have what I have given,' wrote the greatest and most 00:20:54.660 --> 00:20:57.270 align:middle line:84% misunderstood Italian poet of the century, 00:20:57.270 --> 00:21:00.210 align:middle line:84% because by offering one of his texts the poet is exposing 00:21:00.210 --> 00:21:05.140 align:middle line:84% the most defenseless part of his writing, 00:21:05.140 --> 00:21:08.160 align:middle line:84% which involves the unavoidable anxiety that accompanies each 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:09.150 align:middle line:90% gift. 00:21:09.150 --> 00:21:11.850 align:middle line:84% It is merciless also towards dedicatee 00:21:11.850 --> 00:21:15.180 align:middle line:84% because a hypothesis is expressed on him 00:21:15.180 --> 00:21:18.480 align:middle line:84% with the long and subtle digging and probing that can make 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:20.880 align:middle line:90% one shudder by the dedicant. 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:24.480 align:middle line:84% But finally, and above all, a poem with a dedication 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:26.880 align:middle line:84% holds within it rather risky ambition 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:29.100 align:middle line:84% of joining together a part of the spirit 00:21:29.100 --> 00:21:33.750 align:middle line:84% of the donor with a part of the spirit of the receiver. 00:21:33.750 --> 00:21:36.870 align:middle line:84% Some lines from Adriano's 'Phases of the Moon' and 00:21:36.870 --> 00:21:40.590 align:middle line:84% 'Elsewhere,' I quote, 'For a man who puts on boots in a warm 00:21:40.590 --> 00:21:44.820 align:middle line:84% and damp air, sopping wet and festering, 00:21:44.820 --> 00:21:47.280 align:middle line:84% against the man who puts on boots and moves, 00:21:47.280 --> 00:21:52.050 align:middle line:84% heavy with mud, subject to all ills, in the inviting marsh, 00:21:52.050 --> 00:21:56.520 align:middle line:84% inside the man who puts on boots and listens to a whispering 00:21:56.520 --> 00:22:02.220 align:middle line:84% ulcer of lukewarm puddles,' end of quote. 00:22:02.220 --> 00:22:04.710 align:middle line:84% A reconciliation and a poetry lesson 00:22:04.710 --> 00:22:06.840 align:middle line:84% from Adriano, who thus truly opens 00:22:06.840 --> 00:22:08.460 align:middle line:90% a long dialogue from far away-- 00:22:08.460 --> 00:22:11.310 align:middle line:84% I shall have to wait five years before responding-- 00:22:11.310 --> 00:22:15.300 align:middle line:84% Adriano's voice remains behind a solitary man's shoulders 00:22:15.300 --> 00:22:18.540 align:middle line:84% each time that, thinking about the snow or the mud 00:22:18.540 --> 00:22:20.610 align:middle line:84% on the ground, he puts on his boots 00:22:20.610 --> 00:22:23.460 align:middle line:90% before leaving his cottage. 00:22:23.460 --> 00:22:27.450 align:middle line:84% Spring of 1984, Molino di Bazzano. 00:22:27.450 --> 00:22:30.600 align:middle line:84% There are four or five of us around Adriano at the county 00:22:30.600 --> 00:22:31.740 align:middle line:90% in-- 00:22:31.740 --> 00:22:33.870 align:middle line:90% at the country inn towards noon. 00:22:33.870 --> 00:22:36.660 align:middle line:84% I recall an explosion of yellows, the straw and wine 00:22:36.660 --> 00:22:40.110 align:middle line:84% bottles, egg yolks, bright, merry sauce, and fresh noodles. 00:22:40.110 --> 00:22:41.790 align:middle line:90% We are all speaking out loud. 00:22:41.790 --> 00:22:44.490 align:middle line:84% Pasolini-- positively yes, definitely not. 00:22:44.490 --> 00:22:48.000 align:middle line:84% Metrics in poetry-- absolutely not, definitely yes. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:51.660 align:middle line:84% In cases such as this one of apparently indifferent omen, 00:22:51.660 --> 00:22:54.180 align:middle line:84% during a conversation which seems as unsteady 00:22:54.180 --> 00:22:56.370 align:middle line:84% as the table where it is unfolding, 00:22:56.370 --> 00:22:59.350 align:middle line:84% what actually circulates rapidly and secretly is 00:22:59.350 --> 00:23:03.210 align:middle line:84% an epiphany that we search for so often and so uselessly 00:23:03.210 --> 00:23:06.450 align:middle line:90% at our solitary desks. 00:23:06.450 --> 00:23:09.120 align:middle line:84% Somewhere in the '80s, New York, Adriano, 00:23:09.120 --> 00:23:11.520 align:middle line:84% another Italian poet, myself, frozen 00:23:11.520 --> 00:23:13.320 align:middle line:84% inside the artificially warm colors 00:23:13.320 --> 00:23:16.770 align:middle line:84% of a small photograph taken at a street corner in Manhattan. 00:23:16.770 --> 00:23:20.370 align:middle line:84% Adriano in the middle appears like a teacher of repatriation. 00:23:20.370 --> 00:23:23.610 align:middle line:84% In our uncertain smiles, one can read all too clearly, 00:23:23.610 --> 00:23:25.560 align:middle line:90% why do we stay here? 00:23:25.560 --> 00:23:28.800 align:middle line:84% Why don't we go back together with Adriano, each one of us 00:23:28.800 --> 00:23:31.440 align:middle line:84% in search of his own personal mill in the country or at least 00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:35.730 align:middle line:84% in the suburbs which belong to us? 00:23:35.730 --> 00:23:38.670 align:middle line:84% Fall of 1986, Milan train station. 00:23:38.670 --> 00:23:40.680 align:middle line:90% I run across Adriano by chance. 00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:43.080 align:middle line:84% We stop at one of those old station counters 00:23:43.080 --> 00:23:44.970 align:middle line:84% under the great arch barrel vault 00:23:44.970 --> 00:23:47.160 align:middle line:84% made of steel and glass which filters 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:49.140 align:middle line:84% the light with a noble gray color, 00:23:49.140 --> 00:23:51.750 align:middle line:84% redeeming every dreary detail below, 00:23:51.750 --> 00:23:54.210 align:middle line:84% each one with a cup of coffee in his hand, the traveling 00:23:54.210 --> 00:23:55.860 align:middle line:90% bag by his feet. 00:23:55.860 --> 00:23:57.630 align:middle line:84% Adriano just returned from Belgium, 00:23:57.630 --> 00:24:00.720 align:middle line:84% where he took part in a poetry reading, 'Inside a Mind.' 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:02.730 align:middle line:84% He speaks about it with brief simplicity, a part 00:24:02.730 --> 00:24:04.560 align:middle line:90% of his routine as a poet. 00:24:04.560 --> 00:24:06.750 align:middle line:84% I, however, feel the lesson of commitment 00:24:06.750 --> 00:24:10.020 align:middle line:84% to be always open to the venture of words. 00:24:10.020 --> 00:24:11.280 align:middle line:90% He appears weary. 00:24:11.280 --> 00:24:12.540 align:middle line:90% We begin to talk-- 00:24:12.540 --> 00:24:14.310 align:middle line:84% who knows why-- about retirement. 00:24:14.310 --> 00:24:16.410 align:middle line:84% Adriano shrugged his shoulders and makes a grimace 00:24:16.410 --> 00:24:18.990 align:middle line:84% as if to say, I won't have to worry about that. 00:24:18.990 --> 00:24:22.320 align:middle line:90% 00:24:22.320 --> 00:24:26.070 align:middle line:84% June 31, 1988, Linsley Lake, Connecticut. 00:24:26.070 --> 00:24:29.430 align:middle line:84% I finally find the idea for a poem-- that is, it finds me-- 00:24:29.430 --> 00:24:30.900 align:middle line:90% to be dedicated to Adriano. 00:24:30.900 --> 00:24:32.490 align:middle line:90% I write it and send it to him. 00:24:32.490 --> 00:24:34.710 align:middle line:84% The protagonist of the poem, rather than 00:24:34.710 --> 00:24:37.050 align:middle line:84% the one named in the title, "Sleepless Neg," 00:24:37.050 --> 00:24:40.590 align:middle line:84% Neg is a proper name in Italian, is an animal 00:24:40.590 --> 00:24:44.070 align:middle line:84% that fascinates me, a raccoon, a word that I discovered 00:24:44.070 --> 00:24:46.500 align:middle line:84% has its roots in the language of Native Americans. 00:24:46.500 --> 00:24:49.930 align:middle line:84% This animal does not exist in Italy. 00:24:49.930 --> 00:24:53.220 align:middle line:84% The hypothesis and the basis of the connection between dedicant 00:24:53.220 --> 00:24:56.340 align:middle line:84% and dedicatee, which I attempt with this poem, 00:24:56.340 --> 00:24:58.440 align:middle line:84% is that the striped, furry creature that 00:24:58.440 --> 00:25:02.100 align:middle line:84% moves in the night, the serious and grotesque animal, 00:25:02.100 --> 00:25:05.400 align:middle line:84% darkly merry, is a totem of the tribe whose 00:25:05.400 --> 00:25:10.920 align:middle line:84% medicine man is Adriano while I am only one of the tribesmen. 00:25:10.920 --> 00:25:15.210 align:middle line:90% November 27, 1988 New York. 00:25:15.210 --> 00:25:17.640 align:middle line:84% Having just returned from Italy and preparing 00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:20.190 align:middle line:84% to get on a flight to Arizona, I receive a phone call 00:25:20.190 --> 00:25:21.660 align:middle line:90% from Bologna. 00:25:21.660 --> 00:25:24.900 align:middle line:84% Adriano has perished sadly, a heart 00:25:24.900 --> 00:25:27.360 align:middle line:84% attack a couple of days before in his new mill 00:25:27.360 --> 00:25:30.840 align:middle line:84% in the countryside near Reggio Emilia, just a few miles away 00:25:30.840 --> 00:25:33.990 align:middle line:84% from where I was on that day, unawares. 00:25:33.990 --> 00:25:35.730 align:middle line:84% I address my letter of condolences 00:25:35.730 --> 00:25:38.610 align:middle line:84% to Bruno Spatola, the name that I had found in my address book 00:25:38.610 --> 00:25:41.340 align:middle line:84% next to Adriano's, thinking that he is a relative. 00:25:41.340 --> 00:25:43.840 align:middle line:84% Only later do I discover that it was his name, 00:25:43.840 --> 00:25:45.330 align:middle line:90% his true and legal name. 00:25:45.330 --> 00:25:47.190 align:middle line:90% Adriano was his pen name. 00:25:47.190 --> 00:25:49.230 align:middle line:90% I feel very foolish, naturally. 00:25:49.230 --> 00:25:52.200 align:middle line:84% But there is also a dark fear on my part which I cannot tame 00:25:52.200 --> 00:25:55.770 align:middle line:84% to pseudonyms, and nicknames, and noms de plume. 00:25:55.770 --> 00:25:58.140 align:middle line:84% Reconsidering, I see now that addressing 00:25:58.140 --> 00:25:59.820 align:middle line:84% a letter of condolences directly, 00:25:59.820 --> 00:26:02.760 align:middle line:84% even if unknowingly, to the disappeared person, 00:26:02.760 --> 00:26:05.490 align:middle line:84% there is a kind of hyper-reality that actually would not 00:26:05.490 --> 00:26:08.010 align:middle line:90% displease a poet. 00:26:08.010 --> 00:26:12.528 align:middle line:90% February 1989, Linsley Lake. 00:26:12.528 --> 00:26:14.070 align:middle line:84% While I am speaking on the telephone, 00:26:14.070 --> 00:26:17.430 align:middle line:84% a squeaking and screeching suddenly explodes outside, 00:26:17.430 --> 00:26:20.640 align:middle line:84% but it is so loud that at first I think it is indoors. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:22.230 align:middle line:84% It is similar to the one produced 00:26:22.230 --> 00:26:23.790 align:middle line:84% by squirrels when they are excited, 00:26:23.790 --> 00:26:26.340 align:middle line:84% but this one is indeed much stronger. 00:26:26.340 --> 00:26:29.920 align:middle line:84% I interrupt the conversation, and I lean over the terrace. 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:32.310 align:middle line:84% It is night, but the outside lamp 00:26:32.310 --> 00:26:35.670 align:middle line:84% shines on a part of the downhill terrain under it. 00:26:35.670 --> 00:26:38.490 align:middle line:84% Two raccoons are facing each other in confrontation. 00:26:38.490 --> 00:26:41.320 align:middle line:84% Their bellies are lying flat and tense on the ground. 00:26:41.320 --> 00:26:42.810 align:middle line:90% They are vibrating. 00:26:42.810 --> 00:26:45.570 align:middle line:84% From above, they appear like two large frogs, 00:26:45.570 --> 00:26:48.210 align:middle line:84% but this is not the right image, except for those 00:26:48.210 --> 00:26:52.860 align:middle line:84% who have understood the beauty of toads, their secret crown. 00:26:52.860 --> 00:26:54.900 align:middle line:84% Actually, the sight of these animals 00:26:54.900 --> 00:26:58.080 align:middle line:84% is so beautifully that it stops, for a fleeting moment, 00:26:58.080 --> 00:26:59.460 align:middle line:90% one's breathing. 00:26:59.460 --> 00:27:02.160 align:middle line:84% Their thick, gray feathers, brightened 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:06.480 align:middle line:84% by the black, shiny streaks that crisscross them, stand out 00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:10.550 align:middle line:84% like a bejeweled trophy on an oriental tapestry, 00:27:10.550 --> 00:27:15.260 align:middle line:84% the carpet of dry leaves, which, contrasting with those colors, 00:27:15.260 --> 00:27:17.930 align:middle line:84% has a golden glow and the wet sparkle, 00:27:17.930 --> 00:27:21.680 align:middle line:84% as if we were still at the onset of autumn. 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:24.500 align:middle line:84% Another moment, and the scene dissolves. 00:27:24.500 --> 00:27:27.950 align:middle line:84% The tension that bound the two suddenly disappears. 00:27:27.950 --> 00:27:31.160 align:middle line:84% They move away from each other in opposite directions 00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:34.430 align:middle line:84% with a slow, slouching, and merrily desperate step 00:27:34.430 --> 00:27:35.690 align:middle line:90% of dandies. 00:27:35.690 --> 00:27:38.045 align:middle line:90% Now the leaves are pale again." 00:27:38.045 --> 00:27:47.330 align:middle line:90% 00:27:47.330 --> 00:27:48.455 align:middle line:90% [BECK] Are you comfortable? 00:27:48.455 --> 00:27:49.130 align:middle line:90% [VALESIO] Yeah. 00:27:49.130 --> 00:27:52.745 align:middle line:90% [BECK] Could be a little louder. 00:27:52.745 --> 00:27:55.020 align:middle line:90% [VALESIO] Thank you. 00:27:55.020 --> 00:27:55.830 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:27:55.830 --> 00:28:00.580 align:middle line:90% 00:28:00.580 --> 00:28:07.900 align:middle line:84% Trying to get away from their funereal theme, 00:28:07.900 --> 00:28:11.680 align:middle line:84% I'm going to read a poem that I wrote rather recently 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:16.210 align:middle line:84% in California that is, I suppose, 00:28:16.210 --> 00:28:18.720 align:middle line:84% about love, although, of course, it is difficult-- 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:21.220 align:middle line:84% I mean, the poem is either about death or about love anyway, 00:28:21.220 --> 00:28:25.690 align:middle line:84% so let's say it's about love in general. 00:28:25.690 --> 00:28:28.060 align:middle line:90% The title is "Garden Winter." 00:28:28.060 --> 00:28:33.170 align:middle line:84% It was written in a beautiful place that probably many of you 00:28:33.170 --> 00:28:36.640 align:middle line:84% know, what is called The Rose Garden in Berkeley. 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:40.810 align:middle line:84% And what I did was I wrote down carefully-- 00:28:40.810 --> 00:28:42.430 align:middle line:90% I think I got them all-- 00:28:42.430 --> 00:28:46.450 align:middle line:84% the names of the rose species in the garden that seems to me 00:28:46.450 --> 00:28:48.290 align:middle line:90% beautifully suggestive. 00:28:48.290 --> 00:28:53.877 align:middle line:84% So half of the poem is made up by those names that seem, 00:28:53.877 --> 00:28:55.210 align:middle line:90% as I say, very suggestive to me. 00:28:55.210 --> 00:29:00.850 align:middle line:84% What I am trying to suggest by juxtaposing what I just 00:29:00.850 --> 00:29:04.300 align:middle line:84% read to what I'm going to read is that it seems to me 00:29:04.300 --> 00:29:07.630 align:middle line:84% the condition of exile or, to be less dramatic, 00:29:07.630 --> 00:29:10.060 align:middle line:84% the condition of expatriation is such 00:29:10.060 --> 00:29:11.680 align:middle line:84% that there is no possible mediation, 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:12.970 align:middle line:90% at least not in poetry. 00:29:12.970 --> 00:29:16.390 align:middle line:84% One can mediate-- pretend to mediate in order to be 00:29:16.390 --> 00:29:21.340 align:middle line:84% diplomatic about the things, but actually it's a rather sharp 00:29:21.340 --> 00:29:24.760 align:middle line:84% juxtaposition of one country toward the other-- 00:29:24.760 --> 00:29:25.510 align:middle line:90% against the other. 00:29:25.510 --> 00:29:31.180 align:middle line:84% I read what I consider a very Italian discourse, 00:29:31.180 --> 00:29:33.520 align:middle line:84% and this poem, for me, is an attempt 00:29:33.520 --> 00:29:37.290 align:middle line:84% to come as close to the American language as I can. 00:29:37.290 --> 00:29:40.030 align:middle line:84% The list of names of roses to me was 00:29:40.030 --> 00:29:44.380 align:middle line:84% like speaking in this language, as close as I could. 00:29:44.380 --> 00:29:47.560 align:middle line:84% The epigraph is from a short prose poem 00:29:47.560 --> 00:29:51.670 align:middle line:84% by a man who is currently an inmate of Arizona State 00:29:51.670 --> 00:29:55.090 align:middle line:84% Prison in Florence, Arizona, and it says, 00:29:55.090 --> 00:29:58.300 align:middle line:84% at the end of his short piece, "No one in here 00:29:58.300 --> 00:30:03.610 align:middle line:84% may grow a rose, not even in secret when no one knows. 00:30:03.610 --> 00:30:06.070 align:middle line:84% One must have warmth for such a flower, 00:30:06.070 --> 00:30:09.430 align:middle line:84% and there's none in here at any hour." 00:30:09.430 --> 00:30:12.810 align:middle line:90% That's his poem. 00:30:12.810 --> 00:30:15.510 align:middle line:90% And mine is this. 00:30:15.510 --> 00:30:17.620 align:middle line:84% The guy who appears here is called Mario, 00:30:17.620 --> 00:30:22.170 align:middle line:84% and it's the protagonist of the collection 00:30:22.170 --> 00:30:23.490 align:middle line:90% that I am putting together. 00:30:23.490 --> 00:30:24.660 align:middle line:90% Mario is an Italian name. 00:30:24.660 --> 00:30:27.210 align:middle line:90% 00:30:27.210 --> 00:30:32.970 align:middle line:84% "The delicate pride of all those tiny heads not really raised, 00:30:32.970 --> 00:30:37.440 align:middle line:84% bowing, rather, not downwards in a sign of humility 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:41.700 align:middle line:84% but sideways in ironic attention, which does not, 00:30:41.700 --> 00:30:45.330 align:middle line:90% however, refuse a mystery. 00:30:45.330 --> 00:30:51.134 align:middle line:84% Command performance, cathedral, seafoam, Antigua, Blanc Double 00:30:51.134 --> 00:30:57.630 align:middle line:84% de Coubert, Blue Nile, mission bells, portrait, Granada, 00:30:57.630 --> 00:31:01.750 align:middle line:90% Valencia, trumpeter. 00:31:01.750 --> 00:31:04.440 align:middle line:90% But what mystery, where? 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:07.260 align:middle line:84% Did it not disappear, got chased away 00:31:07.260 --> 00:31:12.060 align:middle line:84% by all these roses in their present flashiness, flowers 00:31:12.060 --> 00:31:16.320 align:middle line:84% that merrily ignore the only colors that can allow knowledge 00:31:16.320 --> 00:31:21.570 align:middle line:84% to surface, the impossible colors like gold, or azure, 00:31:21.570 --> 00:31:22.185 align:middle line:90% or emerald. 00:31:22.185 --> 00:31:25.410 align:middle line:90% 00:31:25.410 --> 00:31:30.300 align:middle line:84% Matterhorn, Sweet 16, invitation, American pride, 00:31:30.300 --> 00:31:36.390 align:middle line:84% bahia, Aquarius, Futura, Faberge, Tropicana, honor, 00:31:36.390 --> 00:31:43.110 align:middle line:84% Electra, Touch of Venus, Rochefort, Color Magic, 00:31:43.110 --> 00:31:48.180 align:middle line:84% and also gone from the garden is the young woman meditating. 00:31:48.180 --> 00:31:51.810 align:middle line:84% She was sitting then, all composed and gathered 00:31:51.810 --> 00:31:55.590 align:middle line:84% on the axis of her supple bust but with her head bent 00:31:55.590 --> 00:32:00.150 align:middle line:84% sideways, listening and miming those flowers. 00:32:00.150 --> 00:32:04.440 align:middle line:84% In her place instead are the everyday shadows that 00:32:04.440 --> 00:32:07.290 align:middle line:84% chase away the mystery like missed, 00:32:07.290 --> 00:32:09.570 align:middle line:84% tennis players running every so often 00:32:09.570 --> 00:32:13.200 align:middle line:84% to drink from the water fountain, and bitter couples 00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:17.340 align:middle line:84% that argue like professors, little ones, speaking as they 00:32:17.340 --> 00:32:20.430 align:middle line:84% run, with the husky voice of alcoholics, 00:32:20.430 --> 00:32:24.630 align:middle line:84% still wearing, fortunately for them, an apple red grin, 00:32:24.630 --> 00:32:27.570 align:middle line:84% instead of the mad smile of children on their way 00:32:27.570 --> 00:32:29.580 align:middle line:90% to school. 00:32:29.580 --> 00:32:33.330 align:middle line:84% Yankee Doodle, San Francisco, gold medal, mon cheri, 00:32:33.330 --> 00:32:38.310 align:middle line:84% San Antonio, impatient, President Eisenhower, Lilibeth, 00:32:38.310 --> 00:32:43.845 align:middle line:84% Regensburg, Mighty Mouse, red bells, Spanish shawls, angels 00:32:43.845 --> 00:32:50.340 align:middle line:84% mateau, Dr. Debat, Eiffel Tower, Swarthmore, heirloom, 00:32:50.340 --> 00:32:53.480 align:middle line:90% Europeana. 00:32:53.480 --> 00:32:58.630 align:middle line:84% I wonder, asks Mario tepidly to himself, 00:32:58.630 --> 00:33:02.080 align:middle line:84% what their December scent is like. 00:33:02.080 --> 00:33:04.420 align:middle line:84% And like a monkey, he bends over, 00:33:04.420 --> 00:33:08.830 align:middle line:84% but the crown of the flower hisses, annoyed, into his ear. 00:33:08.830 --> 00:33:10.630 align:middle line:90% You must not seek the perfume. 00:33:10.630 --> 00:33:13.120 align:middle line:84% You must seek the words and listen. 00:33:13.120 --> 00:33:14.590 align:middle line:90% Astonished, he withdraws. 00:33:14.590 --> 00:33:16.270 align:middle line:90% What do you have to say then? 00:33:16.270 --> 00:33:18.850 align:middle line:90% Well, nothing much, my son. 00:33:18.850 --> 00:33:22.240 align:middle line:84% By the way, what kind of son have you been? 00:33:22.240 --> 00:33:26.170 align:middle line:84% On a scale of 1 to 10, what number would you choose? 00:33:26.170 --> 00:33:28.960 align:middle line:84% Now he is walking more tightly among the trellis 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:31.450 align:middle line:90% and the steps, and the bushes. 00:33:31.450 --> 00:33:34.090 align:middle line:84% He looks at them from afar, suspiciously, 00:33:34.090 --> 00:33:35.440 align:middle line:90% but then it gives in. 00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:37.990 align:middle line:84% He approaches other petals with its ear bent 00:33:37.990 --> 00:33:40.030 align:middle line:90% down to catch their whispering. 00:33:40.030 --> 00:33:43.000 align:middle line:84% Hey, there, runaway, dancing groom, too addicted 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:45.700 align:middle line:90% to dawn serenades. 00:33:45.700 --> 00:33:52.150 align:middle line:84% El Capitan, Marie Copmann, Len Turner, Traumerei, Matangi, 00:33:52.150 --> 00:33:58.090 align:middle line:84% fire magic, marine, torchy, sun bright, cherry vanilla, 00:33:58.090 --> 00:34:02.380 align:middle line:84% pristine, pot of gold, Sweet Afton, Cecile Brunner, 00:34:02.380 --> 00:34:07.570 align:middle line:84% lyric, David Thompson, Belinda, Arizona, Roman Holiday, 00:34:07.570 --> 00:34:10.090 align:middle line:90% bewitched. 00:34:10.090 --> 00:34:13.420 align:middle line:84% Mario begins to climb the steps slowly. 00:34:13.420 --> 00:34:16.179 align:middle line:84% Just a while ago, everything was beautiful in the morning, 00:34:16.179 --> 00:34:17.230 align:middle line:90% in life. 00:34:17.230 --> 00:34:19.449 align:middle line:84% Now he's bent over, and he's biting 00:34:19.449 --> 00:34:22.630 align:middle line:84% his lip, unable to find the strength again. 00:34:22.630 --> 00:34:26.620 align:middle line:84% He sits like a broken toy, watching the children down 00:34:26.620 --> 00:34:30.760 align:middle line:84% by the bridge, but only dark shapes leap to his eyes. 00:34:30.760 --> 00:34:35.770 align:middle line:84% Mare grand, autumn gold, Comanche, picture, iceberg, 00:34:35.770 --> 00:34:39.400 align:middle line:84% maid of honor, remembrance, Garden State, 00:34:39.400 --> 00:34:44.530 align:middle line:84% Choo Choo Centennial, galaxy, Anita Charles, honor, 00:34:44.530 --> 00:34:50.739 align:middle line:84% Simon Bolivar, Jane Berner, cherish, paradise. 00:34:50.739 --> 00:34:53.380 align:middle line:84% But he would not give up, even if raising himself 00:34:53.380 --> 00:34:56.199 align:middle line:84% causes a sharp silent pain like moaning. 00:34:56.199 --> 00:34:59.890 align:middle line:84% He continues to climb the fringes, all green, uninhabited 00:34:59.890 --> 00:35:01.480 align:middle line:90% by flowers. 00:35:01.480 --> 00:35:04.600 align:middle line:84% A sparkling flash attracts him, far and close, 00:35:04.600 --> 00:35:07.900 align:middle line:84% a panther's eye in the bushes, neither animal nor plant. 00:35:07.900 --> 00:35:10.450 align:middle line:90% It is the only hope flashing by. 00:35:10.450 --> 00:35:12.880 align:middle line:90% A thorn grabs him by the sleeve. 00:35:12.880 --> 00:35:15.880 align:middle line:90% Mario bends again to listen. 00:35:15.880 --> 00:35:17.260 align:middle line:90% What is my name? 00:35:17.260 --> 00:35:18.790 align:middle line:90% Well your name is Rosa. 00:35:18.790 --> 00:35:20.170 align:middle line:90% No, say it in English. 00:35:20.170 --> 00:35:21.250 align:middle line:90% Whatever for? 00:35:21.250 --> 00:35:23.530 align:middle line:84% I speak and I am Italian, and I want 00:35:23.530 --> 00:35:26.320 align:middle line:84% to rest in the folds in the embrace of my own words 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:29.950 align:middle line:84% in the simple, ancient refrains of the people with whom 00:35:29.950 --> 00:35:30.970 align:middle line:90% I identify. 00:35:30.970 --> 00:35:36.280 align:middle line:84% It's a bed of roses, he who does not sleep reposes. 00:35:36.280 --> 00:35:38.950 align:middle line:84% The branch twists itself around his arm 00:35:38.950 --> 00:35:42.650 align:middle line:84% and with one hard pull makes him bend down to the ground. 00:35:42.650 --> 00:35:44.930 align:middle line:84% He feels the small leaves on his head. 00:35:44.930 --> 00:35:47.860 align:middle line:84% He sees the gray, black, dark soil, stripped, 00:35:47.860 --> 00:35:49.600 align:middle line:90% soaked in dampness. 00:35:49.600 --> 00:35:51.580 align:middle line:90% What is my name? 00:35:51.580 --> 00:35:52.900 align:middle line:90% They call you rose. 00:35:52.900 --> 00:35:53.840 align:middle line:90% And what does it mean? 00:35:53.840 --> 00:35:54.850 align:middle line:90% It means nothing. 00:35:54.850 --> 00:35:57.010 align:middle line:84% Or perhaps it means only that all nothing enclosed 00:35:57.010 --> 00:35:59.620 align:middle line:84% within the coffer called the proper name, 00:35:59.620 --> 00:36:02.830 align:middle line:84% like in the window, La Ventana de Rosa, 00:36:02.830 --> 00:36:05.620 align:middle line:84% of the mission church of San Jose San Miguel 00:36:05.620 --> 00:36:09.040 align:middle line:84% de Aguayo, a great picture of stone roses, 00:36:09.040 --> 00:36:12.760 align:middle line:84% curled, contorted, overblown, created by a simple stone 00:36:12.760 --> 00:36:15.430 align:middle line:84% cutter was named without a reason, 00:36:15.430 --> 00:36:18.800 align:middle line:84% has engraved itself in the mind, Pedro Huizar. 00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:21.560 align:middle line:90% 00:36:21.560 --> 00:36:24.715 align:middle line:84% To exalt and honor his Rosa, his lost love, 00:36:24.715 --> 00:36:27.090 align:middle line:84% a window that seems to speak-- or rather it is the window 00:36:27.090 --> 00:36:28.790 align:middle line:84% of San Antonio that makes it sing-- 00:36:28.790 --> 00:36:32.420 align:middle line:84% the kisses you denied you can no longer give. 00:36:32.420 --> 00:36:37.640 align:middle line:84% The kisses that you offered you can no longer recall. 00:36:37.640 --> 00:36:40.490 align:middle line:84% The branch shakes him, pulls him till it forces 00:36:40.490 --> 00:36:42.050 align:middle line:90% him to bend on the ground. 00:36:42.050 --> 00:36:42.980 align:middle line:90% You fool. 00:36:42.980 --> 00:36:45.680 align:middle line:84% It's not the name you must think of. 00:36:45.680 --> 00:36:46.775 align:middle line:90% Think of the verb. 00:36:46.775 --> 00:36:49.820 align:middle line:90% 00:36:49.820 --> 00:36:53.840 align:middle line:84% Mario rises again, slowly, slowly patting his hands 00:36:53.840 --> 00:36:57.200 align:middle line:90% on his knees to remove the dust. 00:36:57.200 --> 00:36:59.990 align:middle line:84% He continues with weak steps towards a crest 00:36:59.990 --> 00:37:02.150 align:middle line:84% up high on the edge of the garden 00:37:02.150 --> 00:37:05.960 align:middle line:84% beyond the rose bed where the mantle of soil, warmly 00:37:05.960 --> 00:37:11.240 align:middle line:84% gathered, reveals, when one unfolds it, tens of thousands 00:37:11.240 --> 00:37:15.620 align:middle line:84% of tiny hands folded tight, finger over finger 00:37:15.620 --> 00:37:18.860 align:middle line:84% crossed in prayers of dark humility 00:37:18.860 --> 00:37:22.520 align:middle line:84% without pride or flowers, without illusions 00:37:22.520 --> 00:37:26.420 align:middle line:84% but the grass of life cuts across those fists 00:37:26.420 --> 00:37:28.940 align:middle line:90% and aims on I. 00:37:28.940 --> 00:37:31.940 align:middle line:84% Mario is running with uncertain certain steps 00:37:31.940 --> 00:37:35.930 align:middle line:84% in search of the brilliance of an iridescent skin, 00:37:35.930 --> 00:37:37.475 align:middle line:90% in hope of the panther." 00:37:37.475 --> 00:37:49.997 align:middle line:90% 00:37:49.997 --> 00:37:51.080 align:middle line:90% These have been very long. 00:37:51.080 --> 00:37:57.100 align:middle line:84% I think I will finish with a couple of very short poems. 00:37:57.100 --> 00:37:59.630 align:middle line:90% 00:37:59.630 --> 00:38:04.280 align:middle line:84% These will be my last ones from a collection 00:38:04.280 --> 00:38:07.370 align:middle line:84% which is difficult to translate into Italian. 00:38:07.370 --> 00:38:10.490 align:middle line:84% I called it "La campagna dell' Ottantasette." 00:38:10.490 --> 00:38:14.960 align:middle line:84% Campagna in Italian means, as you know, either country 00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:17.810 align:middle line:84% or campaign, as in military campaign, 00:38:17.810 --> 00:38:20.100 align:middle line:84% and I wanted to preserve both meanings, 00:38:20.100 --> 00:38:22.250 align:middle line:84% so the closest I come in translation 00:38:22.250 --> 00:38:25.610 align:middle line:90% is "The 1987 Country Campaign." 00:38:25.610 --> 00:38:29.480 align:middle line:90% And it's a kind of a bet. 00:38:29.480 --> 00:38:32.030 align:middle line:84% I wanted to write in real time, so 00:38:32.030 --> 00:38:35.240 align:middle line:84% to speak, that is, to write a book of poem in one year 00:38:35.240 --> 00:38:37.730 align:middle line:84% and only in one year and to preserve 00:38:37.730 --> 00:38:43.430 align:middle line:84% only the poems in that year, and this is the year of 1987. 00:38:43.430 --> 00:38:45.080 align:middle line:90% Most of them are not titled. 00:38:45.080 --> 00:38:47.610 align:middle line:90% This one is in two parts. 00:38:47.610 --> 00:38:49.910 align:middle line:84% The first part is "Beauty, Unbearable." 00:38:49.910 --> 00:38:53.840 align:middle line:84% The second part is "Beauty, Bearable." 00:38:53.840 --> 00:38:55.700 align:middle line:90% "Beauty, Unbearable." 00:38:55.700 --> 00:39:00.670 align:middle line:84% "When the trunk of an ash tree, solar and smooth, 00:39:00.670 --> 00:39:06.460 align:middle line:84% becomes a narrow, golden door with a reflection of a fir tree 00:39:06.460 --> 00:39:11.530 align:middle line:84% bough unveils itself, so fragile and so exact, 00:39:11.530 --> 00:39:15.290 align:middle line:90% it is the spirit of the branch." 00:39:15.290 --> 00:39:17.420 align:middle line:90% "Beauty, Bearable. 00:39:17.420 --> 00:39:20.180 align:middle line:84% "When two carpenters rise up all at once 00:39:20.180 --> 00:39:25.490 align:middle line:84% in passing, near the highway but far away with their glances, 00:39:25.490 --> 00:39:29.810 align:middle line:84% extend out high, at noon, on the crest of a roof, 00:39:29.810 --> 00:39:33.470 align:middle line:84% balancing on the tall boots and the slender hips 00:39:33.470 --> 00:39:37.730 align:middle line:84% emerging from the wide leather belts, heavy with hammers, 00:39:37.730 --> 00:39:39.500 align:middle line:90% with tools. 00:39:39.500 --> 00:39:41.960 align:middle line:84% They are resting, and they smell, 00:39:41.960 --> 00:39:46.490 align:middle line:84% without taking notice, the scent of the dismembered wood. 00:39:46.490 --> 00:39:51.800 align:middle line:84% Far away their gaze, there, where wood cannot be seen 00:39:51.800 --> 00:39:56.190 align:middle line:84% but only large stains of green and gray undergrowth. 00:39:56.190 --> 00:40:01.880 align:middle line:90% 00:40:01.880 --> 00:40:02.780 align:middle line:90% The other poem-- 00:40:02.780 --> 00:40:07.510 align:middle line:84% I realize now I'm not ending in an upbeat, but OK. 00:40:07.510 --> 00:40:10.250 align:middle line:84% The last poem is called "Young Woman's Skin." 00:40:10.250 --> 00:40:13.010 align:middle line:90% 00:40:13.010 --> 00:40:16.790 align:middle line:84% "If the snow covered by the night is sinister, 00:40:16.790 --> 00:40:19.160 align:middle line:84% the snow, close-packed in the sun, 00:40:19.160 --> 00:40:23.000 align:middle line:84% is cruel, like a young woman's skin. 00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:27.260 align:middle line:84% At a point, arriving too soon, he threw away the shovel, 00:40:27.260 --> 00:40:29.900 align:middle line:84% he crawled behind the wheel, he saw 00:40:29.900 --> 00:40:32.870 align:middle line:84% his face twisted in the small mirror, 00:40:32.870 --> 00:40:34.400 align:middle line:90% the face of the whole body. 00:40:34.400 --> 00:40:36.830 align:middle line:84% And this body belongs to a prisoner screaming 00:40:36.830 --> 00:40:40.460 align:middle line:84% with terror in the long wait for punishment lacking redemption. 00:40:40.460 --> 00:40:45.530 align:middle line:84% It is a wretched torment of the moment within each day. 00:40:45.530 --> 00:40:49.250 align:middle line:84% His own voice traveling through the vessels in the snow 00:40:49.250 --> 00:40:52.490 align:middle line:84% and in his body is a hissing wind in his ear, 00:40:52.490 --> 00:40:58.130 align:middle line:84% saying, I know what and who I am paying for. 00:40:58.130 --> 00:41:03.830 align:middle line:84% But no, he doesn't know at all, and here lies his fear. 00:41:03.830 --> 00:41:07.790 align:middle line:84% The face tortured by exhaustion with a furrowed and creased 00:41:07.790 --> 00:41:12.300 align:middle line:84% grayness loses fortune's friendship. 00:41:12.300 --> 00:41:17.900 align:middle line:84% A face so sparkle-empty, lampshade of charred paper, 00:41:17.900 --> 00:41:23.060 align:middle line:84% does not draw or go near another face." 00:41:23.060 --> 00:41:25.810 align:middle line:84% Thank you for your patience very much. 00:41:25.810 --> 00:41:30.000 align:middle line:90%