Our daily resource is Poetry International, a wonderful source of contemporary poems in many different languages. Besides hosting so many poems online, Poetry International also puts on an annual poetry festival. This year’s will take place in Rotterdam in June.

Today’s (optional) prompt is again drawn from our archives, and builds off our daily resource. Take a look around Poetry International for a poem in a language you don’t know. For example, I grabbed this one in Finnish by Olli Heikkonen. Now, read the poem to yourself, thinking about the sound and shape of the words, and the degree to which they remind you of words in your own language. Use those correspondences as the basis for a new poem.

I’ve taken a poem written by poet, Massimo Morasso, called, I thought about the life I’d like to have

The poem in Italian is-

Ho pensato alla vita che vorrei.
Non diversa da questa.
Oppure no.
                  Più turbinosa,
                                        più rigorosa
nel suo slancio verticale.
Ora che gli spettri li vedo
e la mia mente insegue i modi dei profeti,
e il più profondo è un dono che traspare
all’improvviso, come niente,
           nell’appararenza delle cose,
           nei geroglifici del senso ,
senza saperlo esprimere io, il senso,
per carenza di luce
                         di nomi
                                     di divinità
e dunque, in breve, di visione-
                         confesso che va bene,
                         che il tempo ha fatto il suo lavoro
                         levigandomi,
adesso che mi aggiro come un falco
intorno alla conchiglia che io sono, io

mollusco.

I have no clue what it means but I love the sound of Italian ( more probably because of ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ and the more recent ‘From Scratch’. Anyway, here is what i think the words sounds like. I hope Massimo Morasso forgives me for butchering this poem. And to all those who know Italian, have a laugh. Enjoy!

With a pen I write about a life I like.
Not diverse or questionable.
No opportunities.
        turbulence is fine,
        rigor is fine
My letters are vertical with a slant.
I see an aura glittering in the window
I was meant to be insignificant as per the prophesy,
I kneel at the pew, I don't know this profound feeling of transparency
I will improve, come night,
         It's not apparent if I will be delighted or feel cosy,
         The geography does not matter,
I sense separation especially now, I sense,
 a care for light
                 for name
                      for divinity
Oh, Thank you! I must be brave and have a vision-
                        I confess I feel good,
                        The tempo is fast, I feel love
                        like I am in a gondola,
Address me, dear; come, on a falcon
Internally, I hear the sound of the conch, or is it a
mollusc.


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